a good idea - why did it fail?
Discussion
off the back of another thread I was lured into remembering the Peugeot 1007. Upon this thought a question arose, namely why did it flop?
On the face of it it had a lot of positives (for that type of car):
- easy access
- easy parking
- similar dimensions to the (original) A-Class
- perfect (?) city car
with this in mind what other cars seemed to have a lot going for them but just flopped?
On the face of it it had a lot of positives (for that type of car):
- easy access
- easy parking
- similar dimensions to the (original) A-Class
- perfect (?) city car
with this in mind what other cars seemed to have a lot going for them but just flopped?
DodgyGeezer said:
off the back of another thread I was lured into remembering the Peugeot 1007. Upon this thought a question arose, namely why did it flop?
On the face of it it had a lot of positives (for that type of car):
- easy access
- easy parking
- similar dimensions to the (original) A-Class
- perfect (?) city car
with this in mind what other cars seemed to have a lot going for them but just flopped?
Peugeots of that era were awfully built and terrible to drive. Coupled with that, the sliding door was painfully slow.On the face of it it had a lot of positives (for that type of car):
- easy access
- easy parking
- similar dimensions to the (original) A-Class
- perfect (?) city car
with this in mind what other cars seemed to have a lot going for them but just flopped?
My mum owned a 1.4 petrol Dolce from new back in 2007. We only got it because it was cheap, £99 pm with a £99 deposit if I remember correctly.
Indeed, in car parks it was great and access to the front seats was tremendous.
However, the doors added a fair bit of weight and weren't the most reliable. Because it was effectively a three door car, a 5 door supermini was in reality more practical for a family of three. It was also painfully slow, nearly 16 secs to 60.
I think it's biggest issue was it solved a fairly niche problem while creating a whole hose of other issues.
Indeed, in car parks it was great and access to the front seats was tremendous.
However, the doors added a fair bit of weight and weren't the most reliable. Because it was effectively a three door car, a 5 door supermini was in reality more practical for a family of three. It was also painfully slow, nearly 16 secs to 60.
I think it's biggest issue was it solved a fairly niche problem while creating a whole hose of other issues.
I always thought it was a bit of a gimmick which coupled with questionable styling and it being comically slow, probably really limited it's appeal. However, having used a Transporter for a while, sliding doors for loading / unloading kids / stuff / grannies with dodgy knees are actually pretty handy especially in tight spaces. So I could see why they'd work on a small car, my old uncle always found getting the door open enough in his garage in his Toyota Yaris was a chore... so with a bit better execution and some more speed, sliding doors could work.
Most of the car buying public is very conservative. My parents won't even consider an automatic gearbox. I suspect they will just take the bus rather than buy an electric car in a few years.
Also, I suspect small car buyers just want the cheapest car possible, or pay a premium for a GTi type car. The Pug 1007 is neither of those.
My only memory of the 1007 is that a colleague had one as a rental car for a week and we amused ourselves for a couple of minutes looking out of the office window watching the doors open and close via the key fob.
Could you drive them with the doors open? That might have been a good summer gimmick.
Also, I suspect small car buyers just want the cheapest car possible, or pay a premium for a GTi type car. The Pug 1007 is neither of those.
My only memory of the 1007 is that a colleague had one as a rental car for a week and we amused ourselves for a couple of minutes looking out of the office window watching the doors open and close via the key fob.
Could you drive them with the doors open? That might have been a good summer gimmick.
DodgyGeezer said:
off the back of another thread I was lured into remembering the Peugeot 1007. Upon this thought a question arose, namely why did it flop?
On the face of it it had a lot of positives (for that type of car):
- easy access
- easy parking
- similar dimensions to the (original) A-Class
- perfect (?) city car
The gearbox/gearboxes are the thing I remember hating most during my (thankfully) brief excursion in one, bad enough to make BMW's SMG or Ferrari's F1 gearboxes seem like legitimately 'good' gearboxes. On the face of it it had a lot of positives (for that type of car):
- easy access
- easy parking
- similar dimensions to the (original) A-Class
- perfect (?) city car
Super Sonic said:
I could never understand why they made the sliding door electric. The vans that had sliding doors worked fine manually.
Old people unable to reach back and pull the door... plus when parked on anything but level ground, unassisted could end up with old Betty losing an arm? I remember one of our very amusing sales reps being shown one in a showroom and it sounded like the salesman couldn't keep a straight face when explaining things like the handbrake being some switch miles below the driver on the floor apparently? Stuff like that.
Our sales rep was laughing as well asking the guy whether anyone had ever brought one. No apparently.
Our sales rep was laughing as well asking the guy whether anyone had ever brought one. No apparently.
andy43 said:
Because it was s
t. Next!
This.t. Next!The idea of the sliding doors was nice but ultimately it was a crappy pug with a terrible engine made at a time when Peugeot was not at their best.
People will also tend to default towards things that they consider normal. I.E. a regularly shaped 3/5 door hatch.
A bit of a shame it never took off as I think it's funky. Erm... But I still wouldn't buy one.
Also just a reminder it's a Purr-Joe one thousand and seven, not a one-double oh- seven. Amazon has a lot of lawyers
GeordieInExile said:
If we're talking small cars that should have done better, I would say the Audi A2. Maybe just a few years ahead of its time, but they're brilliant little cars - insane economy, acres of room inside, properly built.
Took one in as part ex, 20 odd years ago, I didn't get the fuss at all, thought it was very meh!Forums | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff