Browse over 9,000 car reviews

Peugeot 308 R HYbrid almost set for production


Peugeot boss shares images of his boss driving 308 R HYbrid development mule.

When Peugeot took the wraps off the 308 R HYbrid concept at the Shanghai motor show back in April, we were told there were no plans for it to go into production.

"This car is more a demonstration of our potential future drivetrains," Peugeot's Tyson Bowen said.

However, Peugeot's global boss has publically given a strong hint to the contrary. 

Maxime Picat, Peugeot CEO, tweeted two pictures this week of what looks to be an almost production-ready 308 R HYbrid development mule.

"Looks like #Peugeot308RHYbrid is ready to move!" he said.

"Today our CEO Carlos Tavares enjoyed its radical performance!"

Carols Tavares is the chairman of the PSA Peugeot-Citroen group, which is Peugeot's parent company, and his involvement suggests validation is underway at the highest level.

The car in the photos looks to be wearing the wheels, brakes and front bumper of the new 308 GTi that debuted at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last week, but with significantly pumped wheelarches that suggest there's far more lurking beneath its disguised skin.

The mule's wheelarches have a larger-radius bulge than the boxed RS6-style ones seen on the Shanghai concept, or any other 308 to date for that matter.

  • Peugeot 308 R HYbrid concept Peugeot 308 R HYbrid concept
  • Peugeot 308 R HYbrid concept Peugeot 308 R HYbrid concept
  • Peugeot 308 R HYbrid concept Peugeot 308 R HYbrid concept

Such a body mod hints at Audi RS3-esque levels of performance, but would also likely be necessary to make space for the front and rear electric motors seen on the petrol-electric concept.

The mule is also sporting an 'R' moniker stitched into the seats - a further strong hint that the car is edging closer to production.

The 308 R HYbrid concept featured a 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine paired with electric motors on both axles and a six-speed paddle-shift transmission.

The concept claimed outputs of 370kW/730Nm with all power sources combined, putting it well ahead of the 200kW produced by the new GTi in its most powerful form.

If a production version comes within cooee of the concept, it would also significantly trump the 270kW/465Nm and 0-100km/h in 4.3s of the recently launched Audi RS3 and the 280kW/475Nm and 4.2s acceleration set for an updated version of the A45 AMG.