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Peugeots put on a diet
22 February 2007
Peugeot is putting its cars on a diet. It aims to cut 40kg from most models in an effort to reduce CO2 emissions by between 1.5- and 2.0g/km per car.
The programme has partly been triggered by growing pressure to reduce CO2 output to comply with revised EU emissions targets, and an initiative from new PSA Peugeot-Citroen boss Christian Streiff.
Streiff is from the aircraft industry, where low component weight is critical, and has asked Peugeot to investigate weight-saving technologies with aircraft suppliers. The company is applying a novel high strength steel that can reduce the weight of the safety-critical ‘A’ pillars of the 307 CC by 20 percent, for example, and it’s also testing this steel in pressed rather than tubular form for seat frames.
Peugeots will no longer be bigger than their predecessors, either. The once compelling-to-drive French cars have been criticised in recent years for piling on the pounds and becoming dull and uninvolving for drivers, however a company insider revealed that this trend would end.
Richard Bremner
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