New Peugeot 308 (2014) revealed ahead of debut at 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show

The new Peugeot 308 - revealed this morning ahead of a debut at Frankfurt in September and an on sale date in the UK of January 2014 – moves the 308 further towards the sector leaders with a new car – built on PSA’s new EMP2 platform – that’s a bit shorter and a bit lower than the old 308, and looks a lot slicker.

The nose of the new 308 is lower than before and it sports Peugeot’s new, more refined, grill with slime LED headlights and manages to look like a convincing big brother to the new 208, with elements borrowed from the Onyx Concept too with the back end sporting LEDs that create three ‘Lion Claws’ in their graphic (like the Jaguar XJ).

Inside, Peugeot have created what they call an ‘i-cockpit’ layout with a big centre console featuring a 9.7″ touchscreen that takes the place of most of the buttons you used to get, allowing Peugeot to create a dash with a sleek and uncluttered feel and heads-up instruments.

Under the bonnet there will be the usual choice of petrol and diesel engines. but Peugeot say the new 308 will offer emissions as low as 85g/km thanks not just to efficiency tweaks but to weight loss of up to 140kg.

Peugeot say the new 308 is an illustration of how they’re pushing the Peugeot brand upmarket, and is a logical continuation of the theme started by the new 208.

It looks convincing, but it will be a while before the new 308 hits the road. Peugeot are debuting the new 308 in September at the Frankfurt Motor Show, but it will be January 2014 before it arrives in Peugeot’s UK dealers. Will we get an estate and cabriolet version in due course? Probably. But we’ll certainly get a new 3008.

More detail on the new Peugeot 308 as Frankfurt looms.

By Cars UK