Archive for Peugeot

Peugeot and Naza signed an MoU for the assembly of the Peugeot 207 Sedan in Paris today. Naza’s plant in Gurun will be the production hub for the 207 Sedan for the ASEAN region from October 2010 onwards. For now, the Gurun plant will be the only right hand drive 207 Sedan assembler in the world. A production of 18,000 units a year is planned.

The 207 Sedan is essentially an updated 206 Sedan based on the 206 chassis. Previous stories revealed that it will be offered with a 1.6 liter engine, which is up from the 1.4 liter found in the Naza 206 Bestari.

The project is referred to internally by Naza as the T33 Project. Naza is the current franchise holder for Peugeot here in Malaysia under its company Nasim Sdn Bhd. They’ve made a name for offering excellent value for money pricing for locally assembled cars such as the 308 and the 407, something that is really unusual with Continental makes here in Malaysia.

Ever since taking over the Peugeot franchise, Peugeot sales in Malaysia have risen from 748 units for the whole of 2008 to the current figure of 2758 units as of August 2009.

Peugeot has just announced the launch pricing for the new Peugeot RCZ 2+2 coupe. If you want a French take on a TT-like car, you’ll be expected to shell out about £19,900 for a ‘base’ model with the 156hp 1.6 turbo engine and a manual transmission.

Now this is actually quite interesting as the 308 GT THP 175 goes for £20995. So I think it’s quite possible to have a low spec RCZ here in Malaysia for well under RM200k.

But with the RCZ being a premium model it’s very likely for Nasim to position their RCZ offering higher up the model range instead. Upgrading to a “Level 2″ trim level car with the 200 horsepower manual brings the price up to £24,500, or a 156hp auto will go for £23,300. That would mean a potential price difference of perhaps RM20k when converted to Malaysian ringgit, BEFORE taxes!

The “Level 1″ base trim level includes 18” alloy wheels, sports front seats, dual zone air-conditioning, folding rear seats, rear parking sensors, four airbags, ESP, EBFD, EBA, ABS, an active rear spoiler, and twin rear sports exhaust.

Upgrading to “Level 2″ will add leather, heated front seats, carpet mats, front and rear parking sensors, tilting door mirrors (to aid reversing), auto headlamps, follow-me-home lighting, rain sensor wipers, and 19 inch wheels.

Further customisation is allowed, with an alternate design for the 19 inch wheels, a carbon roof panel, integral leather, xenon headlamps, directional lights, gloss black brake calipers, black roof arches, matt roof arches, Peugeot connect media navigation 3D, and a JBL Hi Fi system. Nasim could possibly add a few of these to upgrade the spec level of their Peugeot RCZ offering. If this baby handles well, it could be a great alternative to the TT, which has a really expensive Malaysian price tag.

Click here to read the rest of Peugeot RCZ UK prices announced!

Peugeot’s rebadged Mitsubishi i-MiEV didn’t turn out looking quite like what Theophilus Chin imagined it to be – the actual product doesn’t really stray far from its Mitsubishi looks. As for the name, the Peugeot branded car is going to be called the Peugoet iOn while the Citroen one has yet to be named.

Looking back at history, this is not Peugeot’s first electric car. In the mid-90s, there was actually an electric version of the Peugeot 106 for sale. It had a regular speedometer but the RPM meter was replaced by a dial showing the percentage of maximum power output being used. It had a top speed of 90km/h and went up to between 70km to 100km on a single charge.

The new iOn can go further – 130km on the European driving cycle on its lithium ion batteries. The iOn’s batteries can be charged in 6 hours using a regular 220V socket or up to 80% in 30 minutes via a fast charging system. It’s powered by a 64hp motor with 180Nm of torque.

Theophilus Chin’s rendering of a Peugeot-ized i-MiEV

Mitsubishi and Peugeot have finalised its EV agreement where Mitsubishi will be supplying PSA Peugeot Citroen with an electric car for the European market based on the Mitsubishi i-MiEV. Both Citroen and Peugeot-badged vehicles will be available, and production will start in October 2010, with a launch happening shortly after.

Peugeot has unveiled full details on the new Peugeot RCZ 2+2 Coupe. Most people refer to this as a French take on the Audi TT, as it emulates the TT’s shape. If you notice the roof of the RCZ actually has some kind of recession in it in the middle, and Peugeot calls this a “double bubble” design.

Under the hood (at the front) is a version of the 1.6 liter BMW-PSA Prince engine, this time producing 200 horsepower at 5,800rpm, taking the car from 0 to 100km/h in 7.6 seconds thanks to its 255Nm of torque from 1,700rpm. That’s not a whole load of torque and 7.6 seconds isn’t exactly blistering speed, but because the RCZ is small with an interior thats designed to “wrap around” the driver cozily, the speeds might seem faster than they really are, so this will help add to the fun factor.

Of course less powerful engines are also available. A 156hp version of the 1.6 liter Prince engine is also available, and like the 200hp version it is mated to a 6-speed manual. But there will be a 6-speed auto coming soon in summer 2010 – a welcome addition to the Peugeot family as they’ve been making do with 4-speed automatics for a long time now, while BMW has been mating the Prince engine to 6-speed autos for a long time.

Of course there must be a diesel option – a 2.0 liter HDi FAP engine with 163hp, also mated to a 6-speed manual. This is the torqueiest engine option with 340Nm available at 2,000rpm. The diesel engine fuel consumption is rated at 52.3 mpg on the combined cycle.

The Peugoet RCZ rides on the same platform as the 308 and uses MacPherson struts at the front and a torsion beam at the rear. The platform has been modified to suit the RCZ’s sporty intentions – ride height has been lowered by 20mm, center of gravity lower by 40mm, front track widened by 54mm and rear track widened by 72mm. The 200hp engine version has an additional lower anti-roll bar to help with the handling. Peugeot did not use an electric power steering system on the RCZ – it sticks to a hydraulic system which usually offers better response.

The RCZ will go on sale in Spring 2010. You can probably expect Nasim to bring it in sometime in the future as a CBU model and in classic Nasim style, it will probably undercut the 2.0 TFSI Audi TT in terms of pricing, offering a nice alternative.

Click here to read the rest of Peugeot RCZ sports car on sale in Spring 2010

Nasim has added two new colours to the Peugeot 308 VTi. The red shade you see above is called Babylon red and is the same one previously only available on the Peugeot 308 GT and the Turbo. It’s a very nice colour for the 308 and looks like it was meant to be a “hero colour” for the 308. As for the blue which is called Ocean Blue, it’s only available for the VTi. Look after the jump for a couple more photos.

Click here to read the rest of 2 new colours for the Peugeot 308 VTi

The Peugeot 308 RCZ concept was first showcased at the Frankfurt Motor Show back in 2007 and exactly two years later the 2+2 coupe in its production form will be officially unveiled at the 2009 edition of the motor show, which will kick start in September.

Before the unveiling, the French automaker has decided to teased us with some images of the production model, simply called the Peugeot RCZ, their very own take on the Audi TT. If you notice, the coupe does not carry any numbers in its designation which makes it one of the few Peugeots which does not use the usual zero or double zero numbering system.

Peugeot claims it is the first car that does not use the number system but technically it isn’t – they must have forgotten about some other examples such as the Peugeot Partner and Peugeot Bipper vans. But then again, those are vans… and this is the RCZ!

Looking at the images, you can tell right away that the production version is not very far off in terms of the exterior styling from the 2 years old concept variant. You can expect the RCZ to feature powerplants offered in the Peugeot 308, 3008 and 5008 series of cars.

Continue reading to view more teaser images.

Click here to read the rest of Peugeot RCZ sportscar all set for Frankfurt!

For those who are interested, here are full hi-res photos of the entire updated Peugeot 207 range. When we first had a look at the facelift there were only limited photos, but the full gallery is now available for viewing!

As previously mentioned by Nasim officials, the 207 will be coming in. I think it could end up being some serious competition for the likes of the Suzuki Swift and the Swift Sport, more so the latter if they decide to continue offering the 206 Bestari as the bread and butter car and keep the 207 as a nice warm or hot hatch. After all, this is what Peugeot is doing in Europe, keeping the 206/206+ as a basic car while pushing the 207 up as a more premium offering.

Nasim has made its name for offering unmatchable equipment and pricetags for their cars ever since they took over the Peugoet franchise in Malaysia. Just look at the 407 and the range of CKD 308 and you’ll see what I mean. This is probably a bid to get more Peugeots on the road to build familiarity and branding, so you can expect them to do less “hot deals” in the future but now is probably not the time yet, so I think we can continue to expect good deals in the near future.

Look after the jump for the photos.

Click here to read the rest of More photos of the new 207 facelift range

Peugeot has unveiled facelifted looks for the entire 207 range – this extends from the hatchback to the wagon and finally the 207 CC, the only 207 on sale here in Malaysia so far. On the outside, the 207 facelift gets a redesigned front which Peugeot says has been made look softer. There are also more chrome detailing. Alot of the black strips around the car are now body-coloured. The hatchback and CC models get new LED tail lamps.

On the inside its more of trim and detailing changes, and a new instrument panel design that’s said to be more modern and visually appealing, and a new gear change indicator for manual transmissions, but unfortunately the initial batch of press images that they’ve released doesn’t include pix of the updated interior. A new in-car entertainment system called Peugeot Connect USB with Bluetooth, remote controlled window operation, and a one-touch direction indicator are also some of the new features introduced.

Look after the jump for the first batch of 5 images of the various 207 bodystyles. This gallery will be updated later with new photos as they are released.

Click here to read the rest of Peugeot 207 facelift to hit stores in August

Many of us already know this for months thanks to showroom and insider information but Malaysian Peugeot distributors Nasim Sdn Bhd has only just made an official announcement. The 5-door Peugeot 308 Turbo hatchback has been updated with a full-length panoramic glass roof, a similiar one to the one that its more powerful sibling, the 3-door 308 GT has. Nasim says the updated 308 will be available from the end of July 2009 onwards.

The original price of RM111k has been hiked to RM113,888 OTR including insurance and road tax – so that’s less than RM3,000 for the stunning panoramic roof that measures 1.26 meter square, encompassing two-thirds of the roof.

During hot days there is a one-touch full length electric sunblind that fully covers up the glass roof, which uses athermic glass to reduce some of the heat that comes through whenever you have the sunblind open.