Navigation finding its way. Weekly Column
Written By Richard Aucock Published On: Jun 16 2011
Normally, when cars get old, car makers have to cut prices to keep them ticking over. Runout specials, they’re called, and we’re all familiar with them: the midranking spec with the entry level price tag, all aimed at keeping metal shifting until the next one comes along.
That’s the odd dichotomy of the runout car. It becomes a deal too good to miss at the time, but it doesn’t take long for it to become one you wish you had done.
Enter Peugeot, which is taking a slightly different approach. The 207 isn’t on runout yet, but the 208 is waiting in the wings, ready for a possible Frankfurt Motor Show debut and a certain 2012 on sale date. Peugeot’s marketing planners are ensuring the trough-to-peak in the model switchover is kept as flat as possible. It is doing this not by building a runout special, but by tweaking an existing model to become unmissable.
From this month, the 207 Sportium gets an equipment boost and a wider-ranging choice of engines. 1.4 75 and 95 petrol motors are offered, as well a 1.4 HDi 70 and 1.6 HDi 92: three-door and five-door variants are available too. All except the cheapest 1.4 75 are sub-140g/km, the diesels, which start from £13,095, both offer 110g/km potential.
Sounds appealing. As does aluminium grille, front fogs, colour-coded body mouldings, dark-tinted rear glass and alloy-effect trim pack for inside. There’s manual air con, electric mirrors, a choice of colours and even a bespoke blue especially for the Sportium. As special editions go, this is a tasty one. But that’s not all.
Peugeot also throws in a Clarion multi-media unit, which includes European 3D sat nav displayed on a full colour 6.2-inch touchscreen. Yes, sat nav on a supermini – and neatly built-in sat nav at that, thanks to Peugeot integrating it tidily into the dash. In the same sector that has cars boasting either eye-watering optional sat nav (£840 on a Polo? £900 on a MiTo? Big proportion of the list price there…) or no sat nav at all (Ford Fiesta, SEAT Ibiza, Skoda Fabia, hold your hands up), this stands out as being pretty head turning.
It’s better than just offering guidance, too. The Peugeot system also offers USB and Bluetooth connectivity, fully links with iPhones, and plays DVDs and videos whenever the car is stationary. Drivers are going to fall in love with it, but also stay safe on the move. A real positive employee benefit to match the gadgetry on the boss’s Mercedes – and one tied in with a £13k list price plus a 13% Benefit In Kind rating and the money-saving benefits of full Writing Down Allowance.
The trend to downsizing simply isn’t going to reverse. Peugeot’s uncommonly well thought out 207 Sportium offers could be yet another car to positively encourage it, particularly for solus fleets already lured in by the new eco-friendly 308 range and the genuinely surprising 508 line-up.
That’s before the all-new 208 arrives, too. Which arguably gives Peugeot something of a dilemma. Sat nav is becoming a must-have for fleet cars: all those fleet specials I often mention feature it, and an increasing number of fleet car studies is highlighting the time, stress and economic benefits of navigation. Ensure your drivers don’t get lost and wastage plummets.
Renault has already realised this. The Renault TomTom models are well established, and the Renault Clio TomTom is one of the few superminis to come with full built in navigation as standard. Renault won’t be, ahem, doing a U-turn, and is soon going to be known as a mainstream brand where standard navigation is taken for granted.
What about Peugeot, though? The 208 is certainly going to look stark if it either only offers navigation as an expensive option, or fails to offer it at all on certain models. As the 308 SR and 508 SR ranges grow, the lack of a 208 SR variant is going to leave fleet managers pretty miffed.
That’s why I think Peugeot is up to something here. The Clarion navigation is an aftermarket system that’s been neatly integrated into the standard car. Indeed, just like the Renault TomTom system – that’s not a bespoke Renault-developed system, but a really neat conversion that seamlessly adds TomTom into a regular production car.
Is Peugeot up to something similar? Is this Sportium model the first step in it bolstering its sat nav offer, with affordable aftermarket systems that eliminates the £900 hike demanded by the MiTo and others? So neat is the integration, and so manageable is the price boost (just £350 more than the standard model), I’d almost guarantee Peugeot’s UK technicians are working on something to make sure the 208 doesn’t miss out.
Even late into its life, Peugeot’s marketing department are honing the 207 to ensure standout market appeal. The Sportium, far from just being a value special, may well be a bellwether for future models: given its strong sales in the UK, the firm could be onto something.
As for guidance coming to the masses, who’ll be next to jump? Still, see, OE navigation is unavailable on the country’s top-seller, the Ford Fiesta. A facelift is due next year… what are the odds on it finally finding its way onto the Fiesta, then?