12:23 pm, January 27, 2023
Peugeot isn’t going to bring out cheaper EVs, the manufacturer has said.
Instead, it’s going to focus on making more accessible the cars that it already produces.
Peugeot has a wide choice of electric models, including the e-208 supermini, pictured, and e-2008 crossover, as well as battery-powered vans.
It’ll be introducing electric versions of its popular 308 and 3008 in 2023, and by 2025 will offer a fully electric derivative of every car it sells.
However, despite insisting that it ‘won’t price customers out of the market’, smaller, more affordable city cars aren’t set to play a part in the grand scheme of things.
Asked by the PA news agency if Peugeot would be introducing electric models below the e-208, CEO Linda Jackson said it was instead concentrating on making more affordable the cars that it already sells.
‘I think at this stage what we want to do is ask how can we make more affordable the current line-up [of cars] we’ve got and which we’re concentrating on?
‘And that’s Peugeot-as-you-go, subscriptions, offers and a variety of things.’
Peugeot-as-you-go is a scheme in France that sees customers pay €150 (circa £132) a month, which includes the car and 500km (311 miles) of driving a month.
If motorists need to drive further, they can ‘top up’ the mileage at seven cents (6p) a kilometre.
Jackson added: ‘Quite honestly, right now we’re concentrating on our current range, because this is where we are.
‘We’re all in this transition phase before full electric, so we want to make our existing cars more accessible for our customers.’
Phil York, marketing director of Peugeot, said: ‘The cost of living is rising and the cost of raw material pricing is going up, and it’s really vital that we don’t price customers out of the market.’
He added that the firm wanted to expand Peugeot-as-you-go outside of France and to more cars, but he declined to say which countries would be included.
It comes as Peugeot confirmed new electric versions of its 3008 and 5008 SUVs, as the brand looks to offer an EV model of every car it sells by 2025.
Inspired by the Inception concept revealed at the CES technology show earlier this month, the e-3008 and e-5008 will be sold alongside conventionally powered models.
The Peugeot Inception concept
Product director Jerome Micheron said the next-generation 3008 will be revealed in the second half of 2023 and will be the first based on Stellantis’s new medium-car platform.
He also said it would offer ‘up to 700km (435 miles)’ of range.
The two new models will boast three new electric powertrains.
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