Peugeot 208 spotted testing on Indian soil

Groupe PSA, the French auto company, had earlier made an announcement with its intent of setting up its foothold in India. The company is known for producing the Citreon and Peugeot range of cars across the world. It had, earlier, entered into partnership with the New Delhi based CK Birla Group to assist its Indian aim of launching its brand by 2020.

The group currently has plans to set up its plant near the automobile hub of Chennai for assembly and production of its range of cars. It is only imperative that Chennai has been chosen as the preferred hub for producing its Indian portfolio since the CK Birla Group already has a strong presence in Chennai with its current plant where it assembles Mitsubishi SUVs.

Peugeot had, as a part of its new partnership with the CK Birla Group, also acquired the iconic ‘Ambassador’ brand in India. While the question of whether the brand will use the Ambassador name in its product line up is yet to be answered, it has been clear now that the French brand is doing its homework before its relaunch in India, with the sighting of its Peugeot 208 model being tested here, courtesy Overdrive.

Globally, Peugeot 208 was launched in the year 2012. The French company also gave the model a mid-life facelift in 2016. While the pre-facelift Peugeot was also spotted testing a couple of times in 2015, the model that has been spotted testing is the facelifted 2016 Peugeot 208.

While the Indian launch of the French range is still some time away, the car captured in the spy pics, in all probability, should be the test mule employed for data collection and validation. The model spotted had also sported the PureTech badge indicating that the mule is powered by a 3-cylinder petrol engine under the bonnet. Globally, the Peugeot 208 is offered in three engine options – a naturally aspirated 1 L / 68 PS, a 1.2 L /82 PS mill and a more potent turbocharged 1.2L 110 PS engine. A 5-speed gearbox is a standard across the engine options.

While reports indicate that Groupe PSA will launch SUV styled products in the country, it would be interesting to see how the company is going to position its sleek hatchback options.