Launched in April, the Peugeot 408 is the French marque’s first outing in the country since Stellantis Malaysia took over the distribution, marketing, sales and after-sales of the brand here late last year.
Three variants of the fastback-styled crossover – all locally assembled (CKD) at the Stellantis plant in Gurun, Kedah – are on sale in Malaysia, starting with the base Allure, which is priced at RM146,055. The other two are the ones seen in these photo sets, the mid-spec Premium and range-topping GT, priced at RM166,055 and RM196,055 (on-the-road, without insurance) respectively.
Underpinned by the carmaker’s EMP2 platform, the 408 measures in at 4,687 mm long, 1,859 mm wide and 1487 mm tall, with a 2,787 mm-long wheelbase. It’s a sharp suit, that exterior, and differentiating the variants at a glance can be tricky, but there are easy identifiers.
These come in the form of different front grilles and headlight assemblies, as well wheel designs. The Allure and Premium variants get a front grille with horizontally-oriented chrome pins and full LED headlamps, while the GT’s body-coloured pins on its grille offers a vertical, inward slanting take on things, and its automatic matrix LED headlamps are also a giveaway.
From the back, aside from a badge on the tailgate, 3D ‘claw effect’ LED tail lamps identify the GT. As for the wheels, both the Allure and Premium ride on 18-inch units (with 225/55 profile tyres), while the for GT is shod with 20-inch units, wrapped with 245/40 rubbers. Their designs and finishes provide the visual clues as to which is what – Granite Grey for the Allure, two-tone Granite Black for the Premium and Monolithe Black for the GT.
There’s only one engine for the trio in Malaysia, and this is a PureTech 1.6 litre turbocharged inline-four cylinder petrol engine, which offers 218 PS at 5,750 rpm and 300 Nm of torque at 2,000 rpm. Drive is transmitted to the front wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission.
Inside, the Allure gets vinyl upholstery, while the Premium moves this up to leather, and the GT another step further to Nappa leather. All variants feature electric adjustment for the driver’s seat, with the GT adding on memory and a massage function. As for the front passenger seat, it’s manual in the Alllure and powered for the other two variants.
As standard, the 408 is equipped with a 10-inch i-Cockpit digital display, with the GT getting a 3D quartz version of the i-Cockpit unit. There’s also a 10-inch i-Cockpit HD colour touchscreen infotainment unit, with the GT adding on configurable i-Toggle controls.
Elsewhere, both the Allure and Premium are fitted with a six-speaker audio system, while the GT gets a 10-speaker Focal Premium system, and it also comes with a cabin air cleaning system. Wireless phone charging is standard across the range.
As for safety and driving assistance equipment, the entire 408 range features AEB, ESP with hill start assist, traffic sign recognition, high beam assist and a tyre pressure monitoring system along with rear parking sensors, a rear 180-degree camera, active bonnet pedestrian impact protection and six airbags.
The Premium adds on to this with front parking sensors, advanced traffic sign recognition, adaptive cruise control, advanced AEB, front collision warning, blind spot detection and rear cross traffic alert, with the GT adding on a 360-degree rear camera.
Four exterior colours are available for the 408, and these are Obsession Blue, Perla Nera Black, Okenite White and Artense Grey, but only one variant features all four shades, and this is the Premium. The Allure and GT get three colour choices, the former without Obssession Blue and the latter, omitting Artense Grey.
As of September 1, the 408 is also covered by a five-year free service maintenance promo, which Stellantis Malaysia says is a ‘special, limited-time-only’ offer. The five-year free service maintenance promo covers parts costs for a total of 10 services over five years, based on the maintenance schedule with a service interval of every 10,000 km or six months, whichever comes first. Customers only need to pay for labour costs.
GALLERY: Peugeot 408 Premium
GALLERY: Peugeot 408 GT
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
