The Peugeot 408 is a 4-door saloon from Peugeot, built from 2010, as electrification stopped being an experiment and the crossover took every market.
Where it came from
The Peugeot 408 is a compact car (European class: C-segment) produced by Peugeot since 2010. It was unveiled on January 25, 2010, at the Beijing Auto Show and sales began in China on April 8, 2010.
In November 2010, production of the 408 commenced in El Palomar, Buenos Aires, Argentina, with sales starting in April 2011. Despite its name, it is not a direct successor to the Peugeot 407, but rather a long-wheelbase saloon version of the Peugeot 308 hatchback, primarily targeted at emerging markets such as China. The 408 is not slated for the European market, and not built there.
Under the skin
The record carries the shape — a 4-door saloon — and the layout: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. The engine, output and weight have not yet reached the open record, and MotorJury does not guess at them.
In context
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Peugeot 307 saloon. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Lexus LFA, the Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Nissan Leaf — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Peugeot catalogue sit the Peugeot Onyx and the Peugeot Pars.