Why this great manufacturer must follow Tesla and Volvo

Why this great manufacturer must follow Tesla and Volvo and offer exclusively electric vehicles to survive | Opinion

Why this great manufacturer must follow Tesla and Volvo and offer exclusively electric vehicles to survive | Opinion

Peugeot sold 2087 cars in Australia last year, down more than 700 cars on the year before. Sister company Citroen sold a total of 296 cars in 2022. Even with both Citroen and Peugeot’s sales results combined, the pair are in the bottom five lowest-selling car brands in Australia, excluding exotic makes such as Ferrari and Lamborghini. It was a hard question to ask Peugeot Australia’s CEO Kate Gillis, but she didn’t answer. Peugeot’s public relations manager Chloe Fraser quickly intercepted the question and said they are committed to the Australian market and the Australian consumer.

However, if it’s not making money, what is keeping the car company in Australia? Is it vanity? Does this nearly 130-year-old car brand just want to be able to say it sells Peugeots from Melbourne to Madagascar (it does)? Peugeot’s public relations manager Chloe Fraser quickly intercepted the question and said they are committed to the Australian market and the Australian consumer. The most important details in this text are that Peugeot is a mass market brand, shipping 52,264 units in 2022, more than Mazda, Honda and MG, but about 2500 units less than Tesla.

In France, Peugeot is far and away the best-selling car brand in the country with 245,609 sales last year. However, the low sales are down to a lack of awareness of the brand and a pricing strategy that makes their models too pricey compared to a Kia, Mazda or even a Volvo. To turn around its fortunes in Australia, Peugeot must re-invent itself as an EV-only brand, something to rival the likes of Polestar and Tesla. Australians have shown that they are willing to spend more money for a premium car and try something a bit quirky or different when it comes to buying an electric vehicle. In 2022, Polestar recorded 1534 sales in Australia, from a brand that only arrived in November 2021.

Peugeot has EVs in Europe, such as the e-208 light hatch and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). By the middle of 2023, Peugeot will launch its first electric vehicle here, the e-Partner van followed closely by the e-2008 small SUV. The e-308 hatch, which could compete against a Polestar 2 or Model 3, has been under evaluation for Australia since the launch of the petrol 308 in November last year. The Peugeot 308 is a beautiful looking vehicle that is being developed by the company. It has a petrol option, PHEV option, and down the track, a fully electric version.

The company is looking to do market research and talk to dealers to find out what will be right for their brand. They have a petrol option, PHEV option, and down the track, a fully electric version. If Peugeot was going to succeed in Australia selling petrol cars, it would have already, and if they want to save or make something of the brand, it is time for them to dump petrol and embrace EVs.

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