Peugeot 308 facelift (2011) first official pictures

It's facelift time for the Peugeot 308. The 2011 mid-life fillip  brings a modest refresh, with tweaked engines, the promise of emissions as low as 98g/km of CO2 and a raft of minor styling and spec enhancements.

Although this is a minor facelift, the 308 is easily spotted by its new-era Peugeot look. There are numerous front-end accoutrements pilfered from the 508 and, to a lesser extent, the SR1 concept car which laid a stylistic marker for the brand.

LED day-running lights are now de rigueur, nay mandatory with the impending EU rule change. Peugeot says the latest EU5 compliant engines have been fettled to lower emissions and fuel consumption, not least with stop-start. Thus equipped, the 1.6 e-HDi trims carbon down to 98g//km - the lowest in its segment, according to its maker.

Intrestingly, some weight has been trimmed from all models as part of the 2011 facelift. On average, 25kg has been removed, while aero tweaks have smoothed the shape to a slippery 0.28 drag coefficient.

In the UK Peugeot will market the facelifted 2011 308 with four model trims: Access, SR, Active and Allure; the top models in the UK are the THP 200 hatchback and CC. Prices start at £15,245 when it lands in dealers in May 2011, and standard equipment across the board includes stability control, remote locking, six airbags and a plethora of electro-handling nannies.

Although critics in the UK have never warmed to the 308, it remains a big selling vehicle line for Peugeot. It has flogged more than 900,000 308s worldwide since launch in September 2007. Of those, 84,000 were in the UK. 

The newly pepped-up 2011 facelift will be shown for the first time at the 2011 Geneva motor show.

By Tim Pollard