Peugeot 208

FIRST DRIVE We find out if it has substance to back up the style

- James Batchelor

PEUGEOT has a lot to live up to with the new 208 – not just against brilliant rivals such as the latest Ford Fiesta and Volkswagen Polo but also because of the French brand’s string of recent successes with the likes of the 3008 and 5008.

The new offering certainly looks like no other supermini, that’s for sure. There’s a bold face with Peugeot’s latest grille design, sleek headlights and vertical LED daytime running lights and short overhangs.

Underneath it all, the 208 sits on the PSA Group’s new small car platform, called CMP. It’s been designed to cater for different powertrains, so that means the 208 (and its sister car, the Vauxhall Corsa) can come with a petrol engine, a diesel engine or as a pure-electric vehicle. Options include a 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine with 75bhp, 99bhp or 128bhp, a 1.5-litre diesel that develops 99bhp, or a 134bhp EV version.

The 208’s cabin is the car’s stand-out feature. Apart from a smattering of hard plastics on the doors and glovebox lid, there are soft-touch materials across the dash and it feels really well put together.