Driving report Peugeot 408
Photo: Helge Jepsen
The Peugeot 408 impresses with its chic lines, it appears as the ideal crossover with plenty of interior space. As a plug-in hybrid, it is neither fish nor meat, the cockpit is not convincing.
Dhe first own company car was a Peugeot 405. It was a long time ago, the wall was still there, but not for long. For 21,500 Deutschmarks, the young employee got the basic model, a sedan in Baby Benz format with a 1.6-liter petrol engine and 72 hp. Back then, in 1988, the 405 was the car of the year. The 408 of 2023, which resumes the row of four after saying goodbye to the 407 12 years ago, had at least made it to the final of this important competition. The basic model of the successor costs 36,750 euros today, the output is now 131 hp, but the engine has a narrow 1.2 liter displacement and only three cylinders.
And the 408 is no longer a classic sedan, but an extremely successful crossover coupé with a large tailgate. We were asked several times about the car, which falls somewhere between an SUV and a hatchback. However, it was not the basic model that was driven, but the top model. And that’s a plug-in hybrid with a system output of 225 hp. A 1.6-liter petrol engine and an electric motor powered by a 12.4-kWh battery are combined. At the moment, only these two model variants and a 180 hp plug-in are on offer; diesel is no longer available and will not be available either. But there is still a purely electric variant.