PEUGEOT 308

Facelift and upgraded hybrid powertrains for overlooked Golf rival...

- ILLYA VERPRAET

It’s strange how national tastes can differ. While the Peugeot 308 is quite a strong seller in Europe, topping bestseller lists in certain countries, Brits don’t seem to care for it. And we can’t just blame it on SUVs: while Volkswagen shifted close to 30,000 Golfs here last year, Peugeot sold only around 4000 308s.

That’s despite the 308 being available with the full gamut of powertrains: petrol, hybrid, plugin hybrid, electric and even diesel. And it being available as both a hatchback and an estate.

Is a facelift going to turn its favours around? Probably not. After all, it was a pretty good car before, possessing plenty of style and the sort of fluid ride and handling that we don’t usually get from Stellantis offerings.

What has changed? First of all, there are the classic styling tweaks. Peugeot has leapt enthusiastically on the bandwagon of bold front lighting signatures, fitting an LED bar and a light-up lion emblem. What were the headlight clusters now contain only the daytime-running lights, in the brand-typical ‘three-claw’ pattern, while the main beams are contained in simpler units beneath. There are some new colour and wheel options too.