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Peugeot Targeting Female Buyers with New 208

Last year, Ford’s aging Fiesta dominated the European supermini sales charts, followed closely by the VW Polo. Although it came fifth in the rankings, the Peugeot 207 was nowhere near the pace set by these cars.
Peugeot 208 1 photo
Photo: Peugeot
But in the period between now and June, Peugeot will roll out the replacement for the 207 across the major European markets. The 208 weighs 173 kg less than its predecessor and is also significantly shorter, making it great for city driving.

The 207 was viewed as too expensive and to large by some customers, but at an estimated €12,000, the 208 isn’t going to blow its competitors out of the water. So how are they going to ensure they get the estimated 420,000 units sold in 2013, almost 200,000 more than in 2011?

At a launch event in Portugal, Gaetan Demoulin, a Peugeot product, marketing, and strategy executive, told Automotive News Europe that the 208 is going to appeal to female drivers more.

Peugeot also knows that about 40 percent of sales in this supermini segment are three-door cars, so this version of the 208 was styled completely differently than the five-door, with more character lines and chrome.

Yet unlike in the days of the 206, when Peugeot had the run of the supermini market, Toyota’s Yaris and the contenders from Kia and Hyundai are increasingly pressuring the market.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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