The Peugeot 2008 was the country’s best-selling car in 2023, so I thought I’d give the recent facelift another go to see if we know what we are doing.
In my last article on these pages, I looked at the general behaviour of Portugal’s car market in 2023, which is just now coming back to life after the pandemic had sent it on a downward spiral that was very troublesome to some established players.
Among all the numbers, one stood out: our favourite car as a nation, the Peugeot 2008, found 6,760 new homes last year. That’s quite a lot and means almost one in every three cars sold is this small SUV, without any off-road pretensions whatsoever, but that has won over the market with its ease of use and avant-garde design.
Now, aesthetics is almost always subjective, and I am not going to delve too deep into that. Almost everyone I asked loves the way the 2008 looks and when I replied, “but don’t you think the Opel Mokka (basically the same car on the same platform with the same engines) is a better-looking thing?”, I usually got something along the lines of “Opel what? What is that?”
So, I guess Peugeot is selling 2008 like cupcakes also because the work done with the model in terms of marketing and communication has been really good, really effective. Kudos to them.
The 2008 is, obviously, available as a pure electric model but I, being a kind of ‘last man standing’ for ICE cars, chose to test the petrol version, as it still seems more relevant to me and, therefore, to you.
The 1.2 litre, four-cylinder engine that powers the 2008 can be found in many cars that are a part of the whole Stellantis Group, from the Citroën C4 to the Opel Corsa, to the Jeep Avenger. It is a very impressive thing. In the 2008 I drove, it put out 130 horsepower (that means more than 100 hp per litre, mind you) and it seems every time I drive it, it feels even smoother.
There is none of that typical four-cylinder roughness of past times, and it is even more significant when taking into consideration that there is quite a big turbo in there and a start-stop system, both of which could, if poorly calibrated, ruin the experience. The automatic gearbox is a true blessing too. Why, apart from the price, would anyone go for a manual I really don’t know.
As it stands, the 1.2 little four, its 130 ponies and that 8-speed transmission power the 2008 along without great effort and always offering enough performance for the car to feel sprightly and eager to play with the speed limits established by our dear governors.
However, this car is not built for the same driving style as a, say, Peugeot 308 GTI. In fact, quite the opposite. The biggest compliment I can pay it is this: for the five days I drove around in the 2008, I forgot about it – and just got on with my life.
I used it every day for all the different things a normal person does: popping to the supermarket, picking up the kids from school, going out for lunch on a sunny Saturday with the family, lowering the seats and move some furniture from one place to the other (not so normal this one, I admit), park it, unpark it, park it again, unpark it again.
The 2008 was faultless. It just did its thing so effortlessly, in such relentless fashion, I just adopted it as my own. Not many cars can do this. I often find myself wondering why any given press car is too big, too small, too thirsty, too uncomfortable, too soft, too tall, too low, too slow, too powerful … but no, not this one. This one is just right.
It feels modern but doesn’t have any unnecessary shenanigans, it feels fast but is very efficient (I averaged less than 6 litres per 100km), it’s comfortable but handles well, it’s small but big enough for the real-life stuff.
It’s no wonder, really, 6,760 people bought one last year. Although, I have to say, not all of them bought the car I drove, a 2008 GT with the auto ‘box is the highest spec you can get on the model and the €32,000 it costs is not for every family budget. Still, the 2008 starts at €26,000 for the PureTech version with 100 horsepower and a gear stick. The pure electric e-2008 is €40,000.
After driving the petrol car, I would never consider the electric, not for a minute. But I know there are fiscal advantages, “and this and that”, for electric cars that make them cheaper to run. Hypocrisy in my book, but you make up your own mind about that.
What matters is this: in 2023, we chose wisely and did so for the third consecutive year. The 2008 is a great little car for everyday life. Let’s see if it can hold the throne four years in a row.
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