Porsche Returning to Le Mans in 2014

Porsche announced a surprising return to Le Mans by releasing the video below.


With 16 Le Mans championship title, Porsche holds the honour of being the manufacturer with the most number of Le Mans winning title. The next closest contender is Audi with 10 Le Mans titles.

Porsche quit its works (British term for factory, yes we are not British but typing works is far shorter than typing "factory-backed") Le Mans programme back in 1998, and they retired with as a champion. The ultra reliable 911 GT1 bagged the 1998 title while contenders from other works teams' Mercedes-Benz's CLK-GTR, BMW's V12LM and Toyota's much hyped GT-One all suffered mechanical problems. The next year by 1999, Le Mans race regulations were revised and made much of the work that Porsche has already done redundant. But with already so many titles in the bag, Porsche told Le Mans organizers to take a hike instead, and decided to transfer whatever technology Porsche have developed into the Carrera GT. Since then, Porsche's official stance have always been Porsche has nothing else that they need to prove in Le Mans anymore, and saw no point in returning.

But that was in pre-2000 era, the previous millenia, at the peak of the roaring 90s. The world has been turned upside down since then and Porsche is now under the protective wings of the mighty VW Group empire, alongside Lamborghini, Bentley and Audi. Green is the new black and in 2010 Porsche wowed the world with the world's first hybrid supercar, the Porsche 918 RSRS, but had no credible race series to prove its mantle. Early this year, when asked about Porsche's possible entry into Formula One, Matthias Müller, head Porsche's North American operations have indirectly hinted that a return to Le Mans is being considered.

This year, Porsche entered the GT3 R Hybrid in the grueling Nürburgring 24 Hours, which Porsche had won 4 out of the last 5 events. But the race organizers decided to slap the GT3 R Hybrid with a penalty restricting its engine power output, on grounds of offsetting additional power gained from its electric motor. Porsche was furious.

About 1 week after the Nurburgring 24 Hours debacle, Porsche announced its return to Le Mans. Not sure if the two events are linked. Starting 2011, Le Mans regulation have been adapted to allow for hybrid powertrains. Personally, I feel that Le Mans offers more visible transfer of technology from a Le Mans race car to a road car. LED lighting, Audi's FSI petrol direct injection and TDI diesels, night driving aids were all perfected at Le Mans before transferring to regular road cars. Their closed wheel construction meant their safety, aero-drag requirements, reliability for non-stop 24-hours of racing, are closer to a road car.

It does make a lot of sense for VW. Audi's programme will be used to champion its TDI brand clean diesel technology for road cars while Porsche's programme will be used to highlight the performance benefits of Porsche's petrol-electric hybrid "Intelligent Performance Management" brand. Expect a lot of internal mudslinging from the Audi camp though. The VW Group maybe a big empire, but it is far from being one organized quiet monolith. Within each brand, competition and rival politics are very fierce.

We have a written a previous post on Porsche's link with Gulf-Oil and Steve McQueen. You can read it here. Also catch Audi's success in the 2011 Le Mans here.

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CBT Quarterly Review June 2011

CBT, the motoring pullout of New Sunday Times today published the latest copy of its Quarterly Review. Featured on the cover story is the controversial Hire Purchase Act Amendment that is upsetting so many car dealers around the country. Read the background story behind this amendment and also opinions from all sides of the divide; the banks, the government and the car dealers.

Read also Hezeri Samsuri’s test drive verdict on the latest Myvi.

We also contributed an article reviewing the success (or the lack of it) of our National Automotive Policy. You may also read it online here.

Get a copy today at your local news stand.

Automatic Transmission Ratios - when more becomes too many

Earlier this month, transmission specialist ZF Friedrichshafen AG released the world's first 9-speed automatic passenger car transmission, the 9HP. ZF did not specify which OEM will be adopting this transmission, but said that it is designed for front-transverse application (FWD / AWD). Industry rumour suggests that Chrysler will be one of the early adopters of the 9HP. It wasn't too long ago that we thought a 6-speed transmission is just about the most you will ever need. But in 2003, Mercedes-Benz launched its in-house developed 7G-Tronic transmission, the world's first 7-speed automatic. If a Formula One car has only 7-speed, why would you need anything more than a Formula One car, right? Or so we thought. In 2007, Lexus shocked the world by launching the LS600 limousine with the world's first 8-speed automatic transmission, the TL-80SN unit made by Toyota affiliate transmission maker Aisin. Just as we are getting used to a 8-speeder, we now have the 9-speed from ZF shoved into our consciousness. We are only 1 more ratio away from double digit transmission ratio count. The question many are asking is, is this really necessary? Surely car manufacturers are not expecting cars of the future to feature the same gear ratios as my mountain bike right? Right....?

At some point there must lie a point of diminishing return, where complexity and cost of the transmission will outweigh the benefits offered. So where is the practical limit? 10-speed? 11-speed? And here's the scary answer - nobody knows what is technical limit, and until we find limit, passenger cars transmission ratio count will continue increasing.

In an interview with industry journal Transmission Technology International (TTI), Dr Jürgen Greiner, executive of product development at ZF admits that he doesn't know when will this ratio growth stop. Dr Greiner pointed out that by looking at ZF's own history, passenger cars add one more gear to its automatic transmission every 10 years. ZF launched its 3-speed automatic in 1973, 4-speed automatic in 1982, 5-speed in 1990, 6-speed in 2001, 7-speed in 2003, 8-speed in 2007 and 9-speed in 2011. Of late, driven by an urgent quest for increased fuel efficiency, the pace of transmission development has upped considerably. Dr. Greiner did mention that the rapid growth transmission ratio is motivated by marketing, as a key differentiating factor. Market research indicate that consumers view a higher ratio count transmission unit as superior, never mind the fact ratio spread is more important than ratio count. Hence the one-upmanship that we are seeing now.

But is there really a clear benefit from having an 8-speed or 9-speed automatic, versus a regular 6-speed? The question was posed by TTI to ZF’s group executive of the car driveline technology division, Dr Gerhardt Wagner, whose answer was quite surprising. He said, “In our opinion, there is no advantage for the driver just by simply adding a gear. In terms of consumption and driving dynamics, the seven- and eight-speed transmissions currently on the market are in no way superior to our six-speed transmissions. Often, the call for ever more speeds is something that is driven more by marketing than by technical necessity.” His candid answer is very surprising because ZF supplies the 8-speed automatic unit currently used in BMW's flagship 7-series, on top of launching its new 9HP unit. Dr Wagner however later emphasized, “The objective at ZF was not to increase the number of speeds. Instead, we wanted a more efficient transmission design in terms of fuel consumption, performance, mechanical design and costs. Different levers were considered in the design study for a new transmission generation, including the number of gears. At the end of the optimization process, it emerged that the concept with eight speeds offered the best prerequisites for an optimal transmission system.”

BorgWarner is another transmission specialist, most famous for designing VW's famed DSG dual clutch transmission. BorgWarner's Chief Technology Officer Hans-Peter Schmalzl said that “While more transmission ratios may have some marketing appeal, the race for greater transmission efficiency is won with wider ratio spreads, quick and seamless ratio transitions, and the lowest possible parasitic losses. It is safe to say that more ratios beyond current levels will add complexity and cost, while the potential for incremental efficiency gains are approaching diminishing returns. There comes a point when the weight, size, and cost of adding another ratio outweighs the benefit it provides.”

Generally, the more ratios there are, the more likely for the transmission control electronics to find the most suitable ratio for the current driving environment, thereby optimizing fuel consumption and power delivery. But the converse also means that gear ratio selection logic is now a far more complicated task. Instead of being limited to just one choice, the transmission control unit (TCU) now has two or maybe three choices available. With more choices available, the chances of making an incorrect selection or unnecessary shifting / downshifting is increased. The Chevrolet Cruze, with its small 1.8-liter engine comes with a 6-speed automatic. Sounds good on paper, but some owners, especially those with a demanding taste and even media test drives reveal that the Cruze's transmission  is not one of the car's forte, as it sometimes finds itself either in the wrong gear or even shifting mid-corner! It would be stretching the truth to say that it drives better than a Honda Civic's 5-speeder. Plus, for such a small engine, why would you need a 6-speeder anyway? Previously 6-speeder automatics' mainstay are in high end luxury cars with powerful engines. Part of me suspects that manufacturers install these new generation high-ratio count automatic gearboxes to achieve a higher fuel economy rating under New European Driving Cycle test. In a predictable, lab environment, yes having an additional ratio will yield better fuel economy result.

Dr. Stephan Manger, senior manager for overall vehicle development of the Mercedes-Benz M-, R- and GL-Class once said that with "too many gears, the shifting numbers are too high. You come to the point where the car shifts too often." Which brings the additional cost of designing a complex shift map to keep the shifting numbers to a minimum, not to mention the added mechanical complexity. Mercedes-Benz's early generation 7G-Tronic transmission had an undisclosed issue that resulted in jerky shifts at low speeds as well as under braking. A quick Google will bring it up. However, a production running change have since solved the problem.

If you are the minority who don't suck up the marketing hype, and understands that what matters most is having a transmission ratio spread that matches the engine's torque curve, you have little choice but to cough up more to pay for a supposedly more advance transmission that you didn't asked for. Most probably, the added cost would have cancel out whatever savings gained from a marginal improvement in fuel economy.

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2011 Facelift Vios TRD and new G Limited

CBT, the weekly motoring pullout of New Sunday Times online portal today posted a brochure of two new variants to the ever popular Toyota Vios. According to CBT, the brochures were leaked ahead of this week's launch of two new variants; the TRD Sportivo and 1.5 G Limited. Both variants will feature a bespoke front grille and alloy wheels. G Limited will gain a new aerokit while the TRD Sportivo gets a new leather seat design.

From what we can gather, the facelifted TRD Sportivo will replace the existing TRD Sportivo while the G Limited will be an additional to the existing 5-variant line-up. Teasers are already up on UMW Toyota's official website, including price and specs details.

We understand that the 1.5E will get a new seat fabric trim. Other than that, all other Vios variants will remain the same.

The original 2007 Vios

The 2010 Vios facelift, or Minor Change in Japanese OEM lingo.

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Cars of Transformers 3 : Part 3, Chevrolet Camaro

Transfromers Dark The Moon will premier in less than one week's time. Earlier, we have done a series of posts on cars of TF3 here. The third feature car today is the iconic Chevrolet Camaro. The Camaro is probably the most recognized movie star car of this generation. Much have been written about the Camaro so we won't repeat them here. But there are still quite a number of interesting trivia surrounding the Camaro.

Most people will think of the Camaro as a quintessential American car, and in many ways that perception is correct. But it is only as American as a globalized America. The America that accepts anyone from any background to be part of them so long as they are ready to do their part for the American dream, not the insular thinking, baseball wearing redneck Americans who doesn't own a passport. Afterall, Einstein was a German refugee who fled to America. Andy Grove, co-founder of Intel was a Hungarian refugee, and closer to our time, Google was co-founded by a Russian immigrant Sergey Brin.

See, the Camaro is one of the better examples of how leveraging on talent from around the world can make a better final product. The Camaro is not exactly a global car - its primary market is still limited to North America. It was however developed by a global team of talent. We have written about Sangyup Lee before, on his contribution to the Corvette Stingray Concept. The Camaro is another one of Sangyup Lee's work. Sangyup Lee grew up in South Korea, and have almost zero prior experience with muscle cars before his arrival to the United States for his post-graduate studies in the highly acclaimed Pasadena College of Design. Under his charge, the 5th generation Camaro became the most successful modern era Camaro. Before this, all previous iterations of a modern Camaro never quite captured the appeal of the 1967 original. The previous generation Camaro, referred to by enthusiasts of domestic American muscle cars as GM F-body cars, was discontinued in 2002. At that time, GM didn't planned for any replacement for the car due the falling sales and little consumer interest. But as the 5th generation Camaro has shown, it was not that the market is diminishing, but rather, the problem lies with GM not having an engaging product. Today, the 5th generation Camaro is the best selling sports car in America. Partly because it was designed by a foreigner with no prior history with American muscle cars and consequently, is not constrained by historical baggages and is in a better position to reinterpret the concept. Below is a short interview with Sangyup Lee.

While the Camaro's design may have originated in America, it was the Australians who translated the concept into an actual series production ready vehicle. GM Holden's facility in Fishermans Bend, Melbourne, Australia, is GM's centre of rear wheel drive expertise. It was here that the Zeta platform, which underpins the Camaro was developed. The Camaro is one of those few cars that went from concept stage to series production stage with very little changes. It is one thing to push out a ground breaking design. To be able to manufacture them in a cost effective manner is another thing altogether.

The Camaro is not a typical American straight-line-only muscle car. Its dynamics were validated in Australia's Philip Island racetrack as well as the fearsome Nurburgring circuit in Germany. Winter testing were done in north of Canada's Great Lakes while hot weather testing were carried in Australian outbacks and US's Death Valley. Around 100 Camaro IVER (Integration Vehicle Engineering Release, GM's lingo for prototypes) cars were made. So it benefited from the cumulative experience of GM's global development centers across Australia, America and Europe.

When the car was finally signed off for series production, the responsibility to put the cars together fell to the Canadians. GM's plant in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada is the world's only source for Camaros. An American car, designed by a Korean, realized by Australians, put together by Canadians, swooned by the world over. How typical of an American success story.

But that's not the end of it. A Thai art sculptor, Anchalee Saengtai , living halfway across the world from America, built a replica of Bumblebee and Optimus Prime using only automotive junk parts and simple tools. Anchalee's work will be displayed at Ripley’s Believe It or Not exhibitions around the world in New York City, London, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Jeju Island, South Korea.

Anchalee Saengtai with her massive Optimus Prime sculpture.

Read our earlier entry on cars of Transfomers 3 here. Like what you read? Share the article and join our Facebook page here.

The Blind Mechanic

This is something very inspirational. Bart Hickey is a mechanic from Chicago, USA. Nothing special about that, except that he is blind. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that a blind person can carry out automotive repair. Even sighted people have trouble doing that! Watch the video below.

Here is another.

"Intimidator" from Jim Quattrocki on Vimeo.

I think it just goes to show how much people can achieve if their mind is not feed with negative rubbish, that they can't achieve certain things because of who they are. Bart's cousin, revealed in his blog that Bart's late father never treated him any different from a sighted child. He had to carry out the rubbish, vacuum the basement, just like any normal sighted child. His father thought him to repair cars, and never told him that he can't do it because he is blind.

The famous author Malcom Gladwell, in his book "What the Dog Saw" mentioned about a psychology experiment conducted by Standford University to study "stereotype threats", involving black and white subjects performing athletic and test taking, two stereotypes that black and white people are normally associated with. The result of the test confirmed the hunch that, if you don't tell someone that he or she can never be good at certain things, that limit will not exist in their mind and they will do better. You may read the original article here.

If a blind can run an auto repair business, there is no excuse for all of us to not pursue our dream.

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2012 Toyota Yaris - Not for Thailand or Malaysia

We have seen images of the European marker 2012 Toyota Yaris. The Yaris has never been a popular car in Malaysia, and was quietly dropped by the local distributor UMW Toyota back in 2010. Even in Thailand, where the Yaris is assembled, sales never quite matched up to Honda's Jazz. When the Japanese market Yaris (Vitz) was introduced, sources from Thailand hinted that the model will not be made available in Thailand, and as Thailand is the ASEAN region's only source of Yaris, it would also mean that the Yaris will effectively be discontinued after the current model generation reaches the end of its lifecycle.

However, sources within Toyota's Thai office later hinted that the there will be a replacement for the Yaris, although it will not be the same Yaris / Vitz model sold in Japan or Europe. One of the main problems with the current generation Yaris was its high price point, which Toyota could do little about because the car is pretty much designed with the European market in mind and the cost structure is optimized for European assembly plants. Also, its low sales volume here meant that it could never achieve the same economy of scale as its stronger selling sedan cousin Vios. While Toyota remained coy about the details, we only infer that there will be a hatchback model to fill the void left by the discontinued Yaris. Logically the new hatchback will address two key problems afflicting the current generation Yaris - price and size.

We also know that Toyota developed a low cost hatchback for the Indian market, called the Etios Liva, which will be launched by June-27 next week. The Etios Liva is targetted at India's best selling car, the Maruti Suzuki Swift. We think the Etios Liva will be a much better candidate for the local B-segment hatchback market. The current generation Honda Jazz has seen significant increase in its price, making it pretty much irrelevant in this segment anymore. We will have to wait until June-27 for further details on the Etios Liva's overseas market plan.

Audi's amazing 2011 Le Mans. Two great escapes and one history making woman

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “2011 was no doubt the most difficult Le Mans race we’ve ever contested – but in the end with the sweetest result we’ve ever had as well. From such a difficult situation we managed to recover again on our own power and in the end to defeat – albeit with a narrow margin – our really strong competitors from Peugeot. After eight hours we’d lost two of our three cars and knew that it would be extremely difficult with just one car. The entire squad gave everything to do the best for this car. Of course the drivers had to drive it. And they did a really fantastic job – although it was the squad with the least experience at Le Mans. Of course it’s extremely important that Allan (McNish) and Mike (Rockenfeller) came out of both accidents, which were really severe, without any injuries.”

I think the quote above from Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich says it all. 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours have to be most dramatic of all in Audi's 13 year history with Le Mans. The folks from Ingolstadt ought to keep in mind how dangerously close they were from a public relations disaster. Allan McNish's #3 Audi was involved in a horrific crash in just less than an hour after the start. Debris and even tires were flying everywhere and it's a miracle that not only Allan McNish was unhurt, but none of the media crew and marshals were hurt. The photographer that ran away with a tire chasing after him should count himself as the luckiest man alive. And notice how close the spectators were. The fencing did their job.

Imagine the public relations nightmare for Audi if the next day's news headline reads "Audi's star driver killed in Le Mans" or "AP photographer killed by flying debris in fatal Audi crash." It was no wonder that Michael Dick, Audi's Board Member for Technical Development gave a huge sigh of relieve and rubbed his brows when it was confirmed that everyone is fine, while Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich gave an applause. It was a positive surprise to see an Audi board member present in the pits together with the rest of the crew. It's extremely rare to find the boss of a mainstream car company on the ground, not with a suit, but in a racing overall just like everyone else. That alone speaks a lot.

Michael Dick (left) and Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (right)

From what could be very nearly a PR disaster, the event quickly took a positive turn as the whole world was amazed by the strength of the Audi. Not only was Allan McNish unharmed, the structure of the Audi R18 remained intact and its doors were opened by Allan himself, allowing him to climb out unassisted. He got out, paused for a moment to regained his composure, and just at the right moment two Audi rescue vehicles arrived; a Q5 Fire Safety Car and S4 Avant Medical Car. It was almost as if their arrival have been preplanned for maximum exposure. The 3 Audi vehicles, now associated with speedy response, safety and sturdy vehicle construction immediately gave Audi's image a triple boost.

Audi's star driver walking out unhurt, R18's door opened like normal. The timing of the Audi medical and fire safety car's arrival was spot on. You can't buy these sort of spontaneous exposure.

Allan McNish would later post on his Facebook page "Ps, went a gave a big hug & kiss to my Audi chassis designers who once again built a safe & strong car, thanks lads."

Allan McNish and the #3 Audi R18, prior to the crash.

Imagine the other possibility, had Audi not sponsor the race support vehicles, if Allan was hurt, the Audi mangled and he had to be rescued with a medical car from another manufacturer, say a Mercedes or BMW or even Lexus!

Their luck would be tested again when at the 16th hour mark, the #1 Audi, at that time driven by Mike Rockenfeller was involved in another very serious crash, again with a Ferrari 458 Italia. This time it was at night and the TV cameras could not zoom in clearly so nobody knows the fate of Rockenfeller. Once again, the Audi medical cars came and it was later revealed that Mike Rockenfeller was not only unhurt, he got out of the car himself and climbed over the guard rail and waited for help to arrive.

Audi sponsored 22 support vehicles for the 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours race, with its flagship R8 V10 supercar, as well as RS 5 serving as safety car. Other vehicles include :
S4 Avant (Medical Car)
Q5 (Fire Safety)
Q7 (Track, Extraction)

With 8 hours to go and 2 out of 3 cars out of the race, all of Audi's hope lies on car #2, and one women. More on the women later. Audi is the defending Le Mans title winner but had only 1 car running while arch rival Peugeot had all 3 of their fast (but not as fast as the R18) and very fuel efficient Peugeot 908 HDi FAP still running. Team Peugeot couldn't close the gap with Audi and started playing dirty. It became pretty obvious the French race controllers were biased against their home team. Being a French team racing in its home ground La Sarthe circuit, Peugeot is desperate for a Le Mans title. Watch the video below.


The #7 Peugeot is not even in the same lap as the #2 Audi and thus not even vying for the same position. Peugeot knows that it still has 3 cars running while Audi is down to only 1 car. Peugeot had its last two cars, running in 3rd and 4th place, but are too far behind to chase for the lead, to go just a tad slower every time the Audi comes up behind to lap them. This allowed the 2nd place Peugeot to close the gap with 1st place #2 Audi. On a couple of occasions the Peugeot even tried to ran the Audi off the read. The commentators' disgust is shared universally, except in France I guess. But the Audi team maintained their high driving standards and conduct, eventually passed the Peugeot fair and square to take the win. The Peugeot team who can't compete fairly can go Casse-toi!

While all this was happening, in the background was a woman keeping Audi's lead and the team's sole running car together; Leena Gade, a British race engineer for the winning #2 Audi. Le Mans is a very different type of race, stretching 24 hours with the driving duties split across 3 drivers. The race engineer plays a crucial role in monitoring the vehicle and track conditions and advice the driver accordingly on driving strategies to adopt, pit stops, fuel and tire allocation. The driver can only drive as good as his race engineer leads him. As the #2 Audi driven by André Lotterer, Marcel Fässler, Benoît Tréluyer won the 10th Le Mans title for Audi, Leena Gade just went down in history as the first female race engineer for a winning Le Mans car.

Have a feeling she is going to be some cool geek chic Internet celebrity very soon

With the 10th Le Mans title, Audi is now ranked behind Porsche (16 Le Mans title) as the manufacturer with most Le Mans win. Porsche has quit Le Mans and will not return to the sport in the near future. The Zuffenhausen based outfit has nothing left to prove in Le Mans.

Before we end, below is a video by Allan McNish, made before the start of this year's Le Mans. They are some of fittest athletes on the planet!


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Peugeot 308 Sedan Spyshots

Another new sedan from Peugeot, spied in China. If you are wondering isn't the 408 already known as the 308 sedan, we encourage you to read on. The 308 sedan is another example of Chinese consumers driving new product development at major OEMs. China is a predominantly sedan dominated market. The Peugeot 207, Ford Fiesta and Mazda 2, all had sedan variants of the hatchback developed mainly to cater to Chinese demands.

The 308 sedan is expected to debut in China by 2012, sold by PSA's Chinese joint venture Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile (DPCA). In fact, Peugeot's first model in the post Deng Xiaoping economic reform China is a 307 sedan (launched in 2004). So unlike consumers in other markets who expect Peugeots to be hatchbacks, Chinese consumers are quite comfortable with a Peugeot sedan.

And now to clear up the Peugeot sedan models naming confusion. A lot of websites and Internet forums refer to the 408 as a 308 sedan, probably because the 408 shares a lot of styling elements from the 308. But this is an incorrect assumption. The misunderstanding is particularly notable in markets that never had / consumers are not aware of the 307 sedan's existence. Peugeot's official press materials never refer to the 408 as a sedan version of the 308 hatch. The real 308 sedan is meant to replace an existing 307 sedan model, which is currently still on sale in China alongside its 307 hatchback twin.

Generally, all sedan equivalents of Peugeot's hatchback models are based on the previous outgoing generation model, but skinned with present generation Peugeot corporate fascia and styling elements.

For example, the 207 sedan is a development of the previous generation 206. The 207 sedan is also a replacement model for the 206 sedan, which was first made in Iran. Likewise, the 308 sedan is a development of the 307. The first 307 sedan, is itself based on a stretched 306 hatchback. To put it in simple terms :
206 sedan -> 207 sedan
307 sedan -> 308 sedan
408 sedan - New entry to M1 premium segment 

207 sedan, based on a stretched 206 hatch

307 sedan, based on a stretched 306 hatch. Peugeot's first product for China

408 sedan, based on a stretched 307 hatch

 

Generally, Peugeot models (except RCZ, which uses alphabetical name) use numerical names with the following logic :
x0z, with x referring to the vehicle body size and z referring to the vehicle generation. The "0" (or "00") in the middle signifies that it is a Peugeot model.

So far so good. Things only got confusing when Peugeot decided to discontinue its slow selling 607 (600 series name refers to Peugeot's large sedans), and revive the 500 series nameplate (last used by the 506). The executive sedan product positioning filled by the current 407 will be replaced by the newly launched 508. In other words, the 508 will inherit the current 407's marketing communication theme. But the 408, despite having a similar name and similar size, is not meant to fill the 407's shoes.

With the 407 replacement (508) pushed further upmarket, there is now a big gap between 300 series cars and 500 series cars. In comes the 408 and 308 sedan. The 408 is not really a C-segment sedan in a conventional sense. The 408 measures 4680mm long, well ahead of the 4540mm length of a Toyota Corolla Altis. Thus, the 408 isn't really gunning for the same buyers as a Toyota Corolla Altis or Honda Civic. Rather, the 408 straddles between C-D segment. According to Peugeot's press release, the 408 competes in the Chinese market M1 entry level premium segment. Such product strategy makes sense in China, whose huge sedan market allows for greater product proliferation. Although it is left to be seen if such product strategy works in our market. The local Peugeot distributor, Nasim Sdn. Bhd. is expected to launch the 408, often referred by Nasim as T73 sedan, before the end of this year.

VW in China follows the same product strategy, using both the Lavida (developed by VW's Chinese engineers specifically for China) and Sagitar (Jetta, Golf sedan) to form a two-pronged attack at both ends of the sedan segment. The 408 competes with the larger Lavida as well as GM's Buick Excelle GT/XT while the 308 sedan deals with the smaller Sagitar (Jetta, a Golf sedan), GM's smaller Buick Excelle as well as the Toyota Corolla Altis and Honda Civic.

As mentioned earlier, sedan variants of Peugeot hatchbacks are a development of the previous generation hatchback model. Thus, the 308 sedan is not going to feature the famed BMW-PSA developed turbocharged Prince engine. Rather, it will carry over the 307's 1.6-liter engine and 2.0-liter petrol engine, similar to the current engine powering the 408 sedan. But there are rumours that Dongfeng Peugeot will introduce a turbocharged 1.6-liter petrol engine for both the 408 and 308 sedan by its mid-life cycle facelift timing, but stop short of confirming if this is the Prince unit.

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