New Peugeot 308 revealed

The new Peugeot 308 will be unveiled at the Frankfort Motor Show

Peugeot has released pictures of the new Peugeot 308 – but Irish drivers will have to wait until January to get their hands on it.

The new model will debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September and Peugeot says its ‘classy and sophisticated’ new model is ‘destined to revitalise the brand’s position in the ultra competitive, compact family hatchback segment’.

Inside the new Peugeot 308, the high quality materials and gloss black or satin chrome detailing lend themselves to the French car maker’s up-market move.

Peugeot has developed the idea of a i-cockpit, which it says is intuitive and driver-focused – allowing the driver to ‘focus entirely on the road ahead’.

The new Peugeot 308 also adopts the compact steering wheel and floating instrument panel which were first seen in the new Peugeot 208.

The Peugeot 308 i-cockpit is driver focused

Meanwhile, designers believe the 9.7-inch touch screen infotainment unit will create an uncluttered cabin by negating the need for physical buttons and switches.

Product manager Vincent Devos said: ‘When inside the car, one discovers a world of refined style, completely original in the world of hatchback cars, with a cockpit that is intense, innovative and intuitive; it is the Peugeot i-cockpit.’

The new Peugeot 308 is lighter than its predecessor and Peugeot says it will be a class leader in low CO2. In all, 116 patent applications were filed in the development of the new model.

Spec and pricing details will be announced later in the year.