Currently reading: Peugeot gets serious about 'growth' markets
The budget Peugeot 301 will be used to kick start non-European sales to 60 per cent by 2020

Peugeot this week reveals its new 301, a car built especially for what it calls 'growth markets' in Turkey, Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Middle East. Eventually it will also be sold and manufactured in China.

According to Peugeot's new 38 year-old brand CEO, Maxime Picat, who until recently was chief of PSA's Chinese operations, Peugeot wants to use this specially targeted "value" model, and others like it, to boost non-European sales proportion to 60 per cent by 2020. 

The Peugeot 301 is based on a stretched PSA Platform One, and related to the latest 208. The use of Platform One, which is lighter than Platform Two, allows the 301 to weigh as little as 980kg without additional safety kit, such as ESP.

It will be built initially in Vigo, Spain. It sits on a stretched 308 wheelbase and wider tracks, is 4.4 metres long and features both the generous rear cabin and capacious separate boot that owners in these markets prefer. Its ground clearance is raised by 20mm for the additional ground clearance on the rough roads of many emerging markets.

There are three engines, a 72bhp non-turbo version of the recently launched 1.2 litre PSA triple, plus a 115bhp 1.6 petrol four and a 92bhp bhp normally aspirated version of the familiar 1.6 HDi diesel, which is, according to Peugeot the world's biggest-selling diesel engine. 

PSA has been criticised in France and elsewhere for not being sufficiently "internationalised" but spokesmen say the group is working hard to change things. Two years ago group volume outside Europe was just 30 per cent, last year it was 42 per cent and by 2015 it is tipped to reach 50 per cent, en route to the 60 per cent target by 2020.

Steve Cropley

Steve Cropley Autocar
Title: Editor-in-chief

Steve Cropley is the oldest of Autocar’s editorial team, or the most experienced if you want to be polite about it. He joined over 30 years ago, and has driven many cars and interviewed many people in half a century in the business. 

Cropley, who regards himself as the magazine’s “long stop”, has seen many changes since Autocar was a print-only affair, but claims that in such a fast moving environment he has little appetite for looking back. 

He has been surprised and delighted by the generous reception afforded the My Week In Cars podcast he makes with long suffering colleague Matt Prior, and calls it the most enjoyable part of his working week.

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bennyjet 23 November 2012

Peugeot 301

Peugeot used to have style, right up to the 305 and 205.  After that they went from boring to downright ugly.    Nice to see that they are getting their styling back.  I hope this model is a success.

artill 22 November 2012

Looks very nice, although the

Looks very nice, although the engines sound rather underpowered. I hope making it on the 308 platform wont backfire though, its not yet produced anything that drives particularly well

TegTypeR 22 November 2012

Still think the 301 would be

Still think the 301 would be a winner in Europe and would go some way to sorting out Peugeot's sales figures.  It is exactly the sort of vehicle the French market alone would lap up.

As I've said before, to my eyes, it is probably one of their most cohesive designs in years all based around solid proven mechanicals.  Give the 08 series a sprinking of that magic with some extra work on the chassis, instead of awful dashes (208) and challenging exteriors (308, 508 etc etc) and they'll do well.