Peugeot SA is stepping up its presence – the new 407 will be arriving on our shores soon, but what are the chances of seeing the 307 saloon, due to be unveiled at the Geneva Show, in SA?
Peugeot SA is stepping up its presence – the new 407 will be arriving on our shores soon, but what are the chances of seeing the 307 saloon, due to be unveiled at the Geneva Show, in SA?
In a country where the Volkswagen Jetta/Golf IV, Toyota Corolla/RunX, Renault Mégane II hatch/saloon and Opel Astra/Classic duos are so popular in the subcompact market, the current 307 hatchback will, as it turns out, not get its booted companion.
Lee Luck, Peugeot SA spokesperson, on Wednesday told CARtoday.com that the model would not be coming to South Africa “anytime soon”.
She said that while the concept would be shown in Geneva, in order for it to come here, the market would have to be thoroughly researched first. Luck also added that “we don’t think there’ll be a market for it”.
It will not even be showcased at the Auto Africa Show to be held later this year. But Peugeot fans can nevertheless look forward to the 407 (the replacement for the 406) in the second half of 2004. The 407 will be entering the highly competitive market segment featuring BMW’s 3 Series, Audi’s A4, Alfa Romeo’s 156 and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. But wouldn’t the potential of the 307 saloon, one notch down the pecking order, be even greater, considering the many potential buyers in the C segment?
The 307 saloon, which goes into production in the latter half of the year, will closely follow the design cues of its hatched sibling. It will be available with two petrol engines: a 1,6-litre producing 80kW and a 100kW, two-litre engine.