Autoblog

As we reported yesterday, Peugeot was clearly the fastest in qualifying for this weekend's running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The record-setting runs of all three 908 HDi diesel-powered LMP1 cars places Peugeot's entire field of entries 1-2-3 on the starting grid. That's impressive considering two of Peugeot's car crashed during the past two weeks of practice. Audi is hoping that its team's experience, quicker pit stops and more fuel efficient R10 LMP1 cars will eventually carry it past the Peugeots, despite starting fourth, fifth and seventh on the 55-car grid. And thanks to the speed of Lola Aston Martin driver Stefan Mücke whose petrol-powered car earned the sixth spot on the starting grid, not all the front runners will be diesel-powered.

As for classes other than LMP1, the next fastest LMP2 class was dominated by the Porsche Spyders not surprisingly, while LMGT1 is being led by the #63 Corvette Racing C6.R. The Corvettes will be chased this year by the particularly fast #50 Larbre Competition Saleen S7 and some slower but determined Aston Martin DBR9s from Aston Martin Racing. Finally, LMGT2 will be another great battle between Porsches and Ferraris, with the #76 Imsa Performance Matmut Porsche 911 GT3 RSR on pole for the class. Remember the amazing GT2 class finish of last year's race between Flying Lizard's Jorg Bergmeister in a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR and Risi Competizione's Jaime Melo in a Ferrari 430GT? If not, watch it again here as a reminder of why Le Mans is absolutely amazing. Also check out this great post at UltimateCarPage that has a detailed breakdown of all 55 cars with an image of each one and a list of their drivers.

[Source: 24 Hours of Le Mans, UltimateCarPage, Photo by JEAN FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP/Getty ]

Le Mans has seen its fair share of spectacular crashes, perhaps most notably the Mercedes CLR-GTR that caught air and did several flips before landing outside the guard rail back in 1999. While not as outrageous as the Mercedes, Peugeot caught some air as well this past weekend at the 24 Hours of Le Mans test when Marc Gene lost control of his 908 Hdi and hit the wall at over 120 mph. Luckily, Gene was able to walk away from the crash and will be able to drive in the race in less than two weeks. Footage from the crash can be seen after the jump.

Thanks for the tip, Mark!

[Source: YouTube via LeMans.org]

BMW and PSA teamed up to produce the 1.6-liter four-cylinder currently found in the R56 MINI Cooper, but according to an interview with BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer, the four-pot will also find its way into the BMW 1-series. The pre-release of his interview in the Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung didn't divulge which models would benefit from the four-cylinder engine, whether it will be available in both naturally aspirated or turbocharged guise or what markets in which it will be sold.

Reithofer also mentioned that the next generation 7-series, due to be released later this year, would be equipped with a new hybrid drivetrain. No timeframe was outlined as to when the hybrid 7 would be released, but when it is (likely next year), it's expected to be the mild-hybrid, co-developed with Daimler, originally shown on the X5 Vision EfficientDynamics concept.

[Source: Forbes]

Click above for high-res gallery of the Peugeot 308 RC Z Coupe Concept

Originally expected to be announced a while back at the Geneva Motor Show, Peugeot has finally officially announced today at the Lisbon Motor Show that the attractive RC Z concept will go into production. Using styling cues from the Audi TT and the classic Karmann Ghia, we think that Peugeot could have a winner on its hands with its new sporty coupe. While Peugeot has not yet announced details on what will be offered underhood of the production machine, the concept used a version of the Mini's 1.6 liter turbo four. We'll be getting all of the details within time, as the official production version will be unveiled in 2009 at the Frankfurt Motor Show. European buyers will have first crack at the RC Z when it goes on sale in the sprint of 2010.


[Source: Peugeot]

Click above to view the 1,000,000th Peugeot 207 in high resolution

It has only been two years since Peugeot introduced the 207, and already the French automaker has produced over 1 million examples of the new car. The car hit the market in April 2006 with the three- and five-door hatchbacks, and has since rolled out in convertible, wagon and several sport models.

Last year alone Peugeot sold half a million new 207s, which are manufactured at three plants across Europe – in France, Slovakia and Spain – with a combined rate of 2,500 vehicles per day. In a segment crowded with over 70 different models, the 207 has emerged as the market leader. Its "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" success has been driven in part by the double Intercontinental Rally Challenge titles that the 207 Super 2000 took last year, mirroring its big brother 908 HDi's success in Le Mans racing.

[Source: Peugeot]

With six employee suicides in the past 18 months, PSA/Peugeot-Citroen thinks it may have a stress problem. While experts have found no direct link between the suicides and work stress, one in five PSA employees has reported feeling extreme pressure at work, and many feel that there isn't enough time in the day to get their work done.

To ease some of the stress on its 114,000 employees, PSA has implemented several initiatives to help workers get relief from tension. It's is trying everything from reducing the size of manufacturing teams and keeping managers on a particular job longer to establishing a 24-hour hotline for employee counseling. PSA has taken the issue so seriously that the French automaker is going to the extraordinary step of hiring an additional 500 workers to help ease the heavy workload. With 26 new models launching in the next year, PSA workers will need all the stress management they can get. Hopefully that Citroen grille goes away with the new models, that thing stresses us out and we don't even work there.

[Source: Automotive News - subs. req'd]

Click the image above for hi-res shots of the Peugeot 308SW

The Peugeot 308SW (for SportWagon), on the show floor, does not look like a big car. It certainly doesn't look big enough to swallow seven full-sized people. On the rotating podium, however, the car looked almost monstrous. Get inside, and the car appears to be even larger. If you sit in the driver's seat in Geneva, the rear hatch lies somewhere around Lichtenstein. It's that capacious. As with so many French things, the pics don't do it justice, but have a look at the gallery of hi-res photos to see if you can see what we see.

click the picture to view a Google translated version of the source

PSA is putting its very attractive 308 RC-Z into series production, and will make a formal announcement at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show. When we saw this curvaceous coupe in in Frankfurt last year, German flooded our imagination. As has been previously pointed out, there's a lot of Audi TT in the roofline, and the side elevation evokes the Karmann Ghia. We can give Peugeot a pass on that, since the car's designer is German, and there are worse fates than aping two very stylish coupes.

The design hides easter eggs for alert viewers, too. The roof and backlight are formed from polycarbonate and use a double bubble shape to increase headroom for occupants, while at the same time evoking racers by Zagato. The upkick in the doors where they meet the rear quarter windows also offers visual amusement, too. Underhood is a direct-injected, 218-horsepower 1.6L four-cylinder that's shared with the MINI. With less than 2,700 pounds to haul around and Peugeot's storied suspension prowess, the grin might never leave your face.

The 308 RC-Z would be a great vehicle to lead Peugeot's return to the North American market. Many may remember unreliable chariots of woe when they think of Peugeot, but we can't shake our affection for the 405 Mi16. With small cars and coupes showing signs of life, now could be the time, and we think this car would sell better than useless crap on eBay. Thanks for the tip, vlatko!


[Source: AutoBild]

The automotive media are all abuzz with Peugeot's announcement of its drivers' line-up for this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. The French automaker's team took pole and second place at the event last year, and an overall victory in the European series where the equally matched Audi R10 TDI did not compete. PSA, however, is not about to rest until its team thoroughly trounces its rivals, especially Audi, and as we reported previously, towards that effort Peugeot has been recruiting top talent from Formula One to pilot the 908 HDi to victory lane.

The announced roster includes Ferrari test driver Marc Gene, BMW Sauber tester Christian Klien, former Lotus pilot Pedro Lamy, former Super Aguri driver Franck Montagny, former Minardi driver Stephane Sarrazin, Honda F1 test driver and former Le Mans winner Alex Wurz, F1 veteran Ricardo Zonta, and former world champion Jacques Villeneuve. Nicolas Minassian joins the team as the only member never to have earned his F1 Superlicense. Notable is the absence of Sebastien Bourdais, the four-time Champ Car champion who drove the second-place 908 HDi last year alongside Sarrazin and Lamy, but he has his hands full in F1 this year. With such an experienced roster of drivers, Peugeot could stand a more than decent chance of unseating Audi from its domination of the event, broken since 2000 only by the Bentley Speed 8, which Audi themselves supported.

[Source: Autosport, Photo by JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP/Getty]

Where there's smoke, there's fire. And while most wouldn't think of a miniscule European van as hot, PSA's Peugeot brand has its day in the sun with its new Partner vans, unveiled together with its sister-company Citroen's new Berlingo.

The new Partner is virtually identical to its partner, the Berlingo, but is distinguished by some unique features and sheetmetal. The passenger version is labeled the Partner Tepee and gets a multi-function roof called "Zenith". It's also available with a pseudo-off-road package called the Partner Tepee Outdoor. The outgoing version, on the market since 1996, continues on as the entry-level Partner Origin (like the Berlingo First). And, of course, there's a utilitarian version set up for light commercial use with a 1.8-meter long cargo floor that can be extended to 3 meters by dropping the Multi-Flex passenger seats, which gives the Partner LCV an additional 400 liters (14 cubic feet) of cargo space on top of the 3,300-liter (116 cubic-foot) conventional capacity.

[Source: Peugeot]