Peugeot 307 2012 New Release Review

Exhibited at the recent Paris Motor Show, the Prologue HYbrid4 concept car illustrated an approach initiated several years previously. Indeed four years earlier, as part of a strategic review and as preparation for the replacement of the Peugeot 307 and its many body shapes, the Marque began looking at new concepts that would stand out in the very large compact vehicle market. When laying down guidelines for a project (particularly if the latter is envisaged as a new offering within a range intended to win sales in new market segments), one essential step is to listen to and understand the expectations of potential customers, and then take risks by making resolute choices. After conducting polls and extrapolating the results of customer surveys, it quickly became clear that there were real aspirations on the part of some buyers for cars that did not fall into existing categories, such as hatchbacks and MPVs.

The Peugeot 307 emerging SUV segment, conveying an image of modernity, leisure and escape, was perceived by them to be too remote from their daily routines and unsympathetic to their growing environmental concerns. Sport-loving couples and modern families, senior citizens and active young people constituted a potential customer base whose profi le had not truly been identifi ed. This profi le represents the search for a vehicle that is at once modern, status-enhancing and personal, delivering real driving pleasure and able to adapt to different roles, regardless of situation or lifestyle. These users aspire, in short, to a vehicle that does not yet exist, a car offering a new synthesis of motoring values.


This observation strengthened an idea shared by the company’s decision-makers: the future of the motor car inevitably involves the hybridisation of concepts, assisted by technical innovation. In fact, Peugeot designers have often proved themselves highly creative when it comes to creating new body shapes. Indeed the creativity of stylists and engineers has always given rise to strong, modern and distinctive concepts in the Peugeot range, offering multiple benefi ts in terms of motoring enjoyment and day-to-day practicality.
 
Examples include the forward-positioned front windscreen (from the 206), the CC (coupé+cabriolet) body style, the Peugeot 307 SW (intelligence and interior brightness in the world of the estate), or the Peugeo t307 and Peugeot 308 (modern hatchbacks with a semi-tall architecture).

Avery precise and innovative specifi cation was then established for the project, which acquired the in-house code name of ‘‘T84’’. The aim with the T84 was fi rstly to create a spacious vehicle offering an original, dynamic solution that ensures maximum versatility. It would also offer a unique blend of driveability, safety, potential for adventure and leisure pursuits, while at the same time showing respect for the environment. Finally, it would be attractive both to customers in search of modernity (the ‘‘early-adopters’’) and users looking for a car that would simply make their day-to-day lives easier. To do this, the T84 had to successfully incorporate a number of features from different spectrums of the motoring world, and derive maximum benefi ts from each:

- The forward-positioned front windscreen, interior space, raised driving position and intelligent interior modularity are all benefi ts derived from the MPV segment.
 
- A luxurious interior ambience for the driver, an ideal driving position and road holding of the highest order are important features of the world of the saloon that would be taken on board.
 
- Elements of style which evoke adventure and functional attributes making daily life easier such as a split tailgate, a commanding driving position and innovative technology to maximise the off-road capability, are ingredients of the SUV segment essential to the desired concept.
 
- Advanced modern and original technologies have been developed in order to optimise the comfort and safety of all users.
 
- Finally, the T84 project, more than any other within the company, had to reduce its environmental footprint to a minimum, through optimised aerodynamics, weight optimisation, the use of low rolling resistance tyres and the adoption, eventually, of a hybrid technology currently being developed by the PSA Peugeot Citroën Group: the HYbrid4.

The T84 project was therefore designed to become a synthesis of several existing body shapes. Representing an original new concept in the market of ‘‘spacious’’ vehicles, it is positioned as a crossover of a new kind. The T84 project is based on platform 2 of the PSA Peugeot Citroën Group. This platform, continually updated and optimised, benefi ts from exceptional rigidity and therefore provides the best possible location for mechanical assemblies and the suspension, but also ensures excellent acoustic and vibration properties. In this instance the ‘‘short wheelbase’’ platform 2 was used, the same as the Peugeot 308 hatchback, as it is able to meet the required objectives in terms of the car’s compactness and stylistic proportions.

2012 Peugeot 307 Pictures

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