Performance Peugeots as we know and love them are all but dead

Three years ago, Peugeot was on a performance path. Off the back of a great run of GTIs, it was promising halo versions of all of its models, under the new ‘Peugeot Sport Engineered’ banner. Then PSA and FCA merged to create Stellantis, resulting in a big shakeup. 

On the other side, Linda Jackson emerged as CEO after six years at Citroen, during which time she trimmed the fat, including its WRC programme. Peugeot under her new leadership quickly went on an enormous product revamp and electrification drive, with the E-3008 revealed last week representing the marque’s biggest step on the road to a new generation of EVs on bespoke STLA platforms. But there’s been no movement, whatsoever, in terms of the PSE brand. 

The 508 has soldiered on, with a recent facelift offering little more than an update to its design. There’s been no 208 GTI or equivalent, no 308 GTI or equivalent and certainly no movement on a performance version for the entire lineup. Meanwhile, there’s a version of this E-3008 that’s all-wheel-drive with over 320PS. But its ‘GT’ badge corresponding to a trim level, rather than any special performance preparation.

Yet Peugeot has a Hypercar battling at the top of the World Endurance Championship, proudly wearing the grey and green of PSE and the new triple-clawed face of Peugeot. 

So what’s the deal? We asked the question during a roundtable with Jackson, at the reveal of the E-3008. We got the answer we expected.

Linda Jackson on the future of performance Peugeots

“WEC is the one motorsport discipline we want to focus on,” she says. “It’s the one that fits the most. It teaches us things about hybridisation, about efficiencies in electrification, about lightweighting and aerodynamics. On the road, 508 PSE is the concentration. I’m not looking to expand PSE across other ranges.

“If I talk to a certain generation, they ask ‘when are you producing another GTI’? Our future customers have different ideas on what performance is.”

Jackson hands over to Product Director Jermone Micheron, who doubles down on the marque’s findings in its research into what next-generation drivers want.

“For younger generations, performance means technology, sensation, gaming and interactivity. Gen Z have a very different idea of performance. We explored these ideas in our Inception Concept – the Hypersquare wheel is inspired by gaming. It does not focus on performance in the traditional sense, how last generations would see it.”

Will there be performance Peugeots ever again?

In short, then, for now there will be no performance version of every Peugeot. The ramp-up to electrification takes precedence, but as a Peugeot representative pointed out to us, eventually the ‘ramp-up’ will be done.

Indeed, Peugeot has remained committed to the 508 PSE at least. Eventually that car’s replacement will ride on the STLA Medium platform, like the E-3008, which allows for rear-wheel-drive. Could we see a next-generation all-electric rear- and all-wheel-drive E-508 PSE? Maybe.

The other elephant in the room is of course the Inception Concept itself, which Peugeot sources tell us resembles something they would very much like to put into production. At the moment, the Inception Concept is the only car using the upcoming STLA-Large 800-volt platform, which is also rumoured to underpin the next-generation all-electric Giulia and any high-performance variants therein.

So no, it’s unlikely we’ll be seeing more performance Peugeots as we know and love them for the foreseeable. But as a marque represented in the top class at Le Mans and one that trades heavily on enjoyable driving dynamics and sporty styling, we can’t see Peugeot being out of the fun car game for too long.