#Peugeot208

When you’re hot, you’re hot. And when you’re the architect of a leasing promotion gone bad (by way of being too successful), you’re fired.

PSA Group reportedly canned its top German managers after a scorching lease deal on Peugeot 208 hatchbacks sent the country’s residents clamoring for wildly discounted French cars.

It wasn’t supposed to be that way.

The Peugeot 205 GTI is one of the legends of hot hatch history. It took off where the original VW Golf GTI started, with sufficient space and practicality, lots of speed and a reasonable price. And it was even more fun to drive. With about 120 horsepower and weighing under a ton, it was quite quick for 1980s, and its tail-happy attitude gave it the reputation of a challenging car to drive. Its fondness of going through the hedges backwards may helped its popularity – people like to think that they are better drivers than others, and driving a car notorious for unforgiving handling can thus be a great ego booster.

Still glowing from their win at Pikes Peak, Peugeot is about to show off something completely different; a 135 mpg B-segment car (on the European cycle) that can still break the automotive Mendoza Line and hit 60 mph in 8 seconds.

Prevailing wisdom today holds that small cars, manufactured in developed economies are some of the least profitable cars in existence. So why do companies like Peugeot, Citroen and Renault persist in producing them?

More bad news from PSA – production of the brand-new Peugeot 208 subcompact will be cut by one third, as PSA grapples with an imploding market for small cars in Europe.

With all the rumors about German-built Citroens and re-badged French MPVs, it’s time to do what North American car lovers do best; cast a greedy eye upon vehicles we can’t get, and talk about how much we’d like them.

A Financial Times report on the “de-industrialization” of France (sub. required), and the erosion of the country’s manufacturing base took a trip to a Peugeot factory, where the new 208 is leaving the lines and gearing up for a big launch. Peugeot has been suffering financially in recent years, amid a backdrop of a declining manufacturing industry, some employees are blaming the heavy burdens of France’s welfare state.

A hot hatch that’s up on power and 220 lbs lighter than the model it replaces? What a novel concept!