With all that hot hatch heritage Peugeot missed the target; with none Kia has seemingly nailed it
There's a huge amount of goodwill towards Peugeot superminis among a generation of drivers who grew up with
205s,
306s and 106s. From first car base models through GTIs and
Rallyes, many of us took our first faltering footsteps onto - and occasionally backwards off - the roads in Peugeot's finest and they'll forever have a place in our hearts.
If you're playing the GTI card best do it right
Which makes the missed opportunity of
the 208 GTI all the more frustrating. True, Peugeot was never going to be able to 'do a 205' for the modern era, no matter how much its marketing guys might try and
tell us as much. Times, tastes, technology and attitudes have changed. It's done everything right though, giving the 208 GTI a smattering of
motorsport credibility both in rallying and on track. It's even nicked Loeb to punt a vaguely 208-shaped vehicle
up Pikes Peak to reinforce that link back to past glories and capitalise on the in-house marketing gold of having perhaps the most talented all-round driver of the last few decades on the payroll. Citroen - are you listening?
And yet with all that heritage, expertise and an audience raised on happy memories of its products the finished product has seemingly fallen short.
First time lucky for Kia's warm hatch upstart
Leaving the door wide open for Kia, with zero hot hatch heritage, to march right in and apparently nail it
on the first go. Given how vulnerable Peugeot's traditional European markets are to the Korean onslaught on all fronts you'd have to say that was a bit daft.
That generation, raised with fond memories of Peugeot superminis, won't be far off buying first cars for their offspring. Kia might not have that heritage but with the impressive Pro_Cee'd GT in the same showroom as base Picantos and Rios and the like with big warranties and other attractions who's to say parents won't be tempted to start a new generation of drivers aspiring to a new range of spicy Korean delights. Over the pond Kia races Rios in the fun-looking B-Spec hot hatch series, which puts near-stock cars on the track and offers just a hint of competitive gloss to otherwise humdrum hatches the French always did so well. And sister brand Hyundai is gearing up for a full-on WRC campaign too.
Hot hatch B-Spec racers liven up Kia's image
Kia's first step into the hot hatch fray has been a conservative one. Let's hope it gives Peugeot the boot up the derriere it needs to start building cars worthy of that golden era. Whether it's by keeping it affordable and unpretentious like
the Fiesta ST or grasping the technological nettle and forcing through the new age hot hatch agenda
like Renault it needs to do something, be it a stripped back and stickered N24 tribute or bonkers Pikes Peak edition with daft wing and monster power boost.
Dan
