Learn about The Peugeot 308 CC Paris Motor Show 2008

Learn about The Peugeot 308 CC Paris Motor Show 2008 from the AutoMoto TV experts.

Learn about The Peugeot 308 CC Paris Motor Show 2008 Male: Here is Peugeot at the Paris Motor Show. You are exhibiting the 308 CC which we’ll see as a practical car in the showrooms in the spring. You are also exhibiting three very, very striking concept cars with hybrid drive. What is Peugeot trying through design here at the Paris Motor Show? Keith Ryder: I think as you know there is a really big tendency, come back to set and values that we have explored before in the past and also mode of design, aerodynamics and also economical ways of propelling the cars forward. We have three concepts which are hybrids, very powerful segments. One car which has 200 horsepower the other is 300 horsepower with 109 grams CO2. So, it is pretty hi-tech technology. And from a design point of view, we have two different concepts which look at how we can package these kinds of things within design, within Peugeot one of the most things that we look at in any designer is the balance and the shape, the forms of the cars. If I take the Prologue, the Prologue it is almost a kind of laboratory of ideas. From a styling point of view, we have an SUV Crossover image. And with this particular car, we have the wheels nicely placed, nicely balanced with a flacks on the wheel. Wheel arches the seat line which is lifted so this gives the security on the kind of feel for the SUV. If you look at the air fillers on the car, they're pushed really far forward, forward wind screen, the cab forward look again from Peugeot which gives this immense sensation of volumes, space, in French words, luminosity inside the car. The third aspect to the hybrid edition of the actual concept is the plastic counterweight, the dashboard. The dashboard itself is like a fighter plane, the layout with the console very, very high, slopping central console, head of displace, perfectly designed, ergonomics and obviously a dynamic driving position. So within this one concept, the Prologue, there are so many things that have come together with the technology to back it up. Male: Now, Peugeot we know have always been strong in the scooter market and you got a pretty amazing little design over there, the scooter. Keith Ryder: It is fantastic and there is not many companies in the world that they can say that they have also motorcycles and cars within the same group. Obviously that it is on there and that’s BMW but Peugeot of this branch and for the future we like to explore. Our designers are within direction for the scooters and try to really bring this forward within the company. And this particular design is interesting because as you are saying it is a covered kind of vehicle. It is fairly wide but it is not all enough to still make through to the traffic. And you have the minimum protection of the roof. Also, you can carry a passenger on the back which I think is one of the first scooters to do this. Male: If you’re a racer, that’s too clever to race. It is a hybrid powered racer and the regulations don’t even exist from. We know you are very strong in diesel racing and LeMan things like that but this hybrid one, very clever idea. Keith Ryder: Yeah, it is an interesting project that something that has been really nicely developed. This is what Peugeot is all about for us. You know we can design cars which are of this kind of a motion. And put the technology in it as well to back it up. Male: With Borris Rinemoller who is the designer of LCHY hybrid concept car here at the Paris Motor Show. Borris, it is a beautiful car and wonderful finish in this metallic finish that you’ve got but what are you trying to say with this car? What are you trying to do? Borris Rinemoller: We want to express thank you first for the complement. We want to express something, the future design of Peugeot with this car. We wanted to express what we’re going to do in the future in terms of finishing and in terms of design solutions and liter. Male: A car like this is a beautiful design exercise, what does it say about the way that Peugeot is going for the future? Borris Rinemoller: We are trying to be more expressive in emotional ways. Try to be more sculptural, try to be as dynamic and automotive as possible. And this is our latest language which we try to transfer also to future projects. Male: With Pierre-Louis Colin who is the managing director of Peugeot in the U.K. The 308 has been a tremendous success for you in the UK. You have the three-door, you have the fiv-door. We have the station wagon, the SW. Now, we are getting the CC, the convertible and that for you must be the icing on the cake. Pierre-Louis Colin: This is a very, very important moment for us because as you know CC have been the brand who introduced CC. It must be for the general public with 26CC some time ago. This is the fourth version of a CC in a rank. It is absolutely gorgeous and beautiful. It is a really something which is expected very, very much by all the dealers, by all of our customers and I am sure it will be a tremendous success on the UK market. Male: We know it is going to arrive in the spring. What’s it going to mean to Peugeot out there for the dealers, to the customers just as we go towards the summer in England in 2009? Pierre-Louis Colin: By first of all, I hope it would bring some send back to next summer. And I think that the importance of a car which is extremely strong in terms of image is something important to current conditions we are going through because the Peugeot image probably in the recent years, it did suffer a little bit on the market. I think that since we introduced 2007, we see that we are gaining back again some ground but we need really strong image, product like the 308 CC to push ahead and run again as it used to be maybe in the past. Male: And you are designer, you're not a businessman as it were. We do live though in pretty interesting economic times. What does it mean to you to be showing such a confident front to the world in terms of design at a show like this at a time like this? Pierre-Louis Colin: The Paris Motor Show is a motor show and it's where we have to show the world what we are capable of doing. From a design point of view, we know that the first aspect often to sell a car is in its design. So, within the company, obviously there has been a lot of resources placed and belief in the design department along with the engineers in the marketing. And I think the short tradition, the statement of confidence which you have mentioned that we are confident for the future. That we can still maintain the dynamic projects and advanced forward for the future.