Peugeot 308

Distinctive all-new family hatch gets more tech and two plug-in hybrid power options On sale Late 2021 Price from £24,000

- Darren Moss

LOOKS GET YOU noticed, and although judging a car’s styling is a subjective business (after all, what one buyer would describe as beautiful would have others running for the showroom door), we think most people will agree that this latest Peugeot 308 is, well, a bit of a looker.

And it needs to be, because standing out in the family car game is like trying to get through the public auditions for Britain’s Got Talent.

To help it, then, this new 308 is available with two plug-in hybrid engine options, as well as a 1.2-litre petrol and a 1.5-litre diesel, the latter of which – on UK roads – is likely to be as rare as a golden buzzer from Simon Cowell.

Let’s start with the 1.2-litre petrol. This 129bhp engine is the same unit we already recommend in a host of other Peugeot models, and it’s equally cracking in the 308. It offers peppy performance from low down in the rev range and is just as at home on the motorway as it is when ambling around town.

Peugeot expects the majority of buyers, however, to go for the less powerful of the two plug-in hybrids. Dubbed Hybrid 180, it mates a 1.6-litre petrol engine with an electric motor for 178bhp in total. Its 12.4kWh battery pack offers a range of up to 37 miles, and a full charge takes as little as 1hr 40min from a 7.4kW wallbox charger. Performance feels brisk, and the instant surge of power from the electric motor makes city driving good fun. Anything more than a gentle prod of the accelerator pedal will have the petrol engine joining the fray, though.