Peugeot 3008 – new 163 HDi auto launches

The Peugeot 3008 HDi 163 auto is now available in the UK

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the Peugeot 3008 as far as we can see. It’s a very convincing crossover from Peugeot and has performed strongly since its release six months ago. We’ll be getting our chance to play in a few weeks when we have a 3008 Sport Hdi 150 booked in for review. Which was the top of the tree (in engine terms). But not anymore.

Peugeot has announced that the 3008 is to get more power – the 2.0 litre 163 bhp HDi – which brings extra oomph to the party to compensate for the standard auto box, which offers standard auto mode plus a sequential option.

The 3008 163 HDi comes with a choice of two trim levels – Sport and Exclusive. Sport trim gives you 17″ alloys, rear parking aid, Cruise, CD/MP3, AirCon, Hill Assist, ESP and half a dozen air bags.

Move up to Exclusive trim and you can add a Panoramic roof, auto lights and wipers, head up display, sun blinds, tyre pressure monitoring and Climate.

This looks like a strong addition at the top of the 3008 range. An auto ‘box is a welcome addition which -although less economical than the 150 HDi manual – still manages to average almost 43mpg.

Prices start at £21,395 for the 3008 Sport HDi 163 FAP Auto, rising to £22,795 for the 3008 Exclusive HDi 163 FAP Auto.

Interestingly, the 3008 with the 163bhp option was included when Peugeot sent us a UK price list for the Peugeot 3008 back in July 2009. So we must assume that – for some reason – Peugeot have only just decided to make it available in the UK. And it costs £450 more than last year.

At least this way they get some extra publicity.

By Cars UK