Tag Archives: EVs

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Peugeot Reignites the GTI Flame for the Electric Age

Peugeot is preparing to tap into one of the richest veins of its performance heritage, with plans to revive the spirit of the iconic 205 GTI in the range-topping performance version of the next-generation 208.

The French brand has already reintroduced the GTI badge with a hot new version of the e-208, marking the return of one of motoring’s most storied performance sub-brands. Now, Peugeot CEO Alain Favey has confirmed that this is only the beginning. Speaking to Autocar, he revealed that additional GTI models are on the way as Peugeot reshapes its identity around what he calls “great driving sensations”.

That philosophy is expected to carry through to the next iteration of the 208 hatchback, due in 2028, positioning it as a modern spiritual successor to the legendary 205 GTI that defined the hot hatch genre in the 1980s.

A serious electric hot hatch contender

The e-208 GTI enters an increasingly competitive electric hot hatch arena. With 278bhp, a 0–62mph time of 5.7 seconds and a mechanical limited-slip differential, it is being engineered to go head-to-head with rivals such as the Alpine A290, Cupra Born VZ and the forthcoming Volkswagen ID Polo GTI.

Notably, this marks Peugeot’s first GTI-badged hot hatch since the previous-generation 308 GTI was launched in 2015. For Favey, the return of the badge carries real weight.

“We would not do it if we didn’t think that we want the GTI badge to continue existing in future,” he said. “So definitely we will make sure that there is a future for GTI which goes beyond just that one.”

While he stopped short of confirming exactly what form future GTI models will take, Favey was clear about the standard they must meet. “The important thing is to make sure that wherever there is a GTI badge, you get an experience that is one of a kind and absolutely the top in the category.”

Ambition takes time

Peugeot revealed the e-208 GTI in June at the Le Mans 24 Hours, with order books set to open at the 2026 running of the race and first customer deliveries planned by the end of that year. The lengthy gap between unveiling and launch, almost 18 months, underlines the brand’s ambition for the car.

“That’s just the time it takes to get the car ready,” said Favey. “We want the car to be really top in its category and really a credible hot hatch, and that’s as long as it takes.”

Alpine’s Renault 5-based A290 is firmly in Peugeot’s sights. Favey openly acknowledged it as the key benchmark, adding with a smile that the e-208 GTI “will definitely be better than its similarly conceived compatriot – at least, that’s what we hope to be”.

The rivalry echoes a golden era of French hot hatches, when the original 205 GTI squared off against the Renault 5 GT Turbo, followed years later by the Peugeot 206 GTI and Clio RS 172 battling for class honours.

Heritage, reinterpreted

GTI, Favey stressed, is central to Peugeot’s identity. “It’s an important element of our heritage,” he said, describing its revival as part of a broader effort to clearly position Peugeot as a brand that stands for driver engagement.

That heritage is already visible in the Polygon concept, which previews the next 208 and features multiple nods to the 205. A future GTI variant would be expected to lean even more heavily into that nostalgia, potentially reinterpreting classic design cues such as pepperpot wheels, red pinstriping and prominent GTI badging.

Looking beyond the supermini segment, the next-generation 308, also due around 2028, appears a natural candidate for a GTI version. Such a move would allow Peugeot to once again take aim at established performance benchmarks like the Volkswagen Golf GTI and Cupra Leon.

No return to petrol

One thing is clear, however: the GTI badge will not return on a petrol-powered hot hatch. Favey was blunt about the realities of emissions regulations, particularly in Peugeot’s home market.

“France is a big market for us and unfortunately the rules are such that there are extremely heavy CO₂ penalties up to €70,000,” he explained. “So it would make it just impossible to buy.

“We would have a nice car everybody would love, but it would be just impossible to own. And if we don’t have the French market, it’s difficult for us to justify developing a car like that.”

For Peugeot, then, the future of GTI is electric. But if the ambition behind the e-208 GTI is anything to go by, the badge’s defining promise—lightweight feel, sharp responses and genuine driver engagement—may yet survive the transition into a new era.

Source: Autocar

News

BYD Warns Europe’s Carmakers: Split Focus Could Cost Them the EV Race

As Brussels softens its stance on combustion engines, China’s fastest-growing car brand says hesitation—not regulation—is Europe’s biggest threat.

European car makers risk slipping even further behind their Chinese rivals if they continue to hedge their bets between combustion engines and electrification. That’s the stark warning from Stella Li, BYD’s European boss, who believes regulatory back-and-forth is forcing legacy manufacturers to dilute their efforts—while BYD pushes relentlessly in a single direction.

The European Union’s decision to soften its planned 2035 ban on new combustion-engined cars, allowing up to 10 per cent of sales to continue burning fossil fuels, was welcomed by many European manufacturers. Several had argued that EV sales targets were racing ahead of real consumer demand, and that flexibility was essential to protect jobs and margins.

BYD, however, is unimpressed.

“We don’t care about revisions to the green deal, or delaying the ban for combustion cars,” Li said during a London media briefing attended by Auto Express. “Our strategy, from small cars to large cars, is to offer EV and DM-i.”

Growth without compromise

Unlike many European brands, BYD has already abandoned pure combustion cars entirely. Its line-up consists solely of battery-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, branded DM-i for ‘dual motor’. Despite—or perhaps because of—this clarity, the company’s European growth has been explosive.

In the first 10 months of 2025, BYD’s registrations in Europe jumped from 36,000 to 138,000 year-on-year, a 285 per cent increase. That momentum comes against a backdrop of stark contrast: EVs now account for around 60 per cent of new car sales in China, but just 16.4 per cent in Europe.

China’s advantage, Li argues, was locked in long ago. A decade-old industrial strategy prioritised battery technology and global supply chains, allowing firms like BYD to scale rapidly while Western rivals hesitated.

“The European Union is trying to push the Green Deal back and forth, then for a lot of auto companies their R&D is back and forth,” she said. “How can they compete with a company like BYD which only believes in one direction?”

Her criticism is blunt: split development budgets mean split results. “Their R&D expense needs to be split into two. You never have enough money to do that, and you’ll never be good at one thing.”

From challenger to giant

BYD is no longer an outsider throwing stones. It has already overtaken Tesla to become the world’s biggest electric-only car maker and now ranks as the third-largest automotive brand globally, behind Toyota and Volkswagen. In total, it has sold 14.5 million ‘new energy vehicles’—EVs and plug-in hybrids combined.

And its ambition is unmistakable. “Our goal is to become the number one global automotive brand,” Li previously told Auto Express.

Europe is central to that plan. By 2026, BYD aims to double its European retail footprint from 1,000 to 2,000 outlets, covering 90 per cent of the market. A wave of new models is on the way, including the Sealion 5 DM-i SUV to rival the Kia Sportage, the Seal 5 DM-i compact saloon, and the Dolphin G, expected to be a small plug-in hybrid SUV.

Made in Europe

Crucially, BYD’s European push will soon be underpinned by local manufacturing. Its new Hungarian factory will begin trial production in the new year, with series assembly scheduled for spring. The first model off the line will be the Dolphin Surf, BYD’s entry-level EV, followed by the Atto 2 small SUV in both electric and hybrid form.

The plant has an installed capacity of 300,000 units, and Li believes BYD will reach that figure in under two years. Local production will not only reduce costs and tariffs, but also give the company a stronger political and industrial voice in the region.

“We haven’t been part of discussions around delaying the ban on new petrol car sales,” Li admits. “But step-by-step, we will start raising our voice.”

Premium ambitions and flash charging

BYD’s European expansion won’t stop at the mainstream. Li confirmed that Denza, the group’s premium brand, will launch in Europe at the beginning of April.

Three models are planned for next year, all featuring high-performance electric platforms, autonomous parking and ultra-fast ‘flash charging’. Among them are the Z9GT estate—positioned as a rival to the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo—the D9 seven-seat MPV, and the B5 SUV.

Denza’s technology headline is charging speed. Built on a high-voltage architecture, the cars are claimed to recover nearly 250 miles of range in just five minutes. To support this, BYD plans to roll out its own one-megawatt chargers, targeting 300 units in the UK and 3,000 across Europe.

One direction, full throttle

For Li, the lesson is simple: commitment beats caution. While Europe’s established manufacturers debate timelines and hedge their investments, BYD is betting that clarity—and speed—will decide the future of the industry.

“Who is winning?” she asks. In BYD’s view, the answer is already taking shape.

Source: Auto Express

News

Ford Reenters Small-Car Market With Renault-Built Electric Fiesta Successor

Ford is officially re-entering the affordable small-car arena it voluntarily abandoned—and it’s doing so with help from an unexpected ally. In a move that could reshape its entire European strategy, Ford has struck a landmark deal with Renault to share the French firm’s Ampr EV platform. The partnership will spawn at least two new Ford-badged electric cars starting in 2028, one of which is all but confirmed as the long-awaited successor to the Fiesta.

This isn’t a badge-swap arrangement. Ford insists the upcoming models will be “distinct Ford-branded electric vehicles”, designed by Ford teams, engineered to drive like Fords, and positioned as true alternatives—not clones—to Renault’s reborn 5 and 4.

A New Fiesta—Built in France

The first EV out of this new collaboration arrives in early 2028. It will share its core architecture with the Renault 5 and even roll off the same lines at Renault’s ElectriCity complex in Douai. But the fundamentals—steering feel, driving character, interior UX—are being developed in-house by Ford.

Under the skin, expect the familiar Ampr hardware:

  • Front-mounted motor making 121–215 hp, depending on trim
  • 40 or 52 kWh battery options, converted to more affordable LFP chemistry by the time Ford’s version lands
  • A footprint and mission that squarely place it in the void left by the Fiesta’s 2023 retirement

For a company that once depended on the Fiesta as its European workhorse for nearly half a century, this is nothing short of a comeback storyline.

A Second Model—Likely a Baby Crossover

Model No. 2? A small electric crossover based on the Renault 4. Think of it as a potential successor—or spiritual successor—to the upcoming Puma Gen-E. Timing remains unclear, but development is underway.

Ford Needs These Cars—Badly

If the Renault partnership seems unusually cozy for Ford, that’s because the company is facing real pressure in Europe.

Market share has cratered from 12% to under 4%.
Sales of the Capri and Explorer EVs have been so sluggish that Ford cut up to 1000 jobs at its Cologne plant and reduced the site to a single shift.
And with Focus production ending last month, Ford’s passenger-car lineup in Europe is now effectively a collection of Transit-derived SUVs and MPVs—none of them cheap.

In short: Ford has marched itself upmarket, and the customers didn’t follow.

Bringing back a Fiesta-sized EV at a roughly Renault-5-like price tag (around £22k) is Ford’s most realistic path back to mainstream relevance—and a far more cost-effective one than developing a clean-sheet small EV from scratch.

Why Not Volkswagen?

Interestingly, Volkswagen’s smaller MEB Entry platform was long rumored to be Ford’s way back into the affordable supermini segment. But cost—and speed—won out. Renault’s Ampr platform is cheaper, production-ready, and already under two of Europe’s most eagerly awaited small EVs.

Ford still partners with VW on bigger EVs (Explorer, Capri) as well as commercial vehicles. The Renault deal will extend to vans too, though both companies stress this is still “exploratory.”

Farley and Provost: United by Necessity

Ford CEO Jim Farley calls the Renault agreement “an important step” toward making Ford’s European division leaner, more competitive, and future-proof. Renault Group’s François Provost describes the partnership as a showcase of “competitiveness in Europe.”

Both executives know what’s at stake. Europe’s EV adoption has slowed dramatically, Chinese imports are flooding the budget end of the market, and the EU is considering pushing its internal-combustion ban from 2035 to 2040.

Farley has been especially vocal. In a recent op-ed, he argued Europe’s decarbonization policies are “out of step with market reality,” pointing out the wide gap between mandated EV sales (25%) and the real number (16%). He also criticized the UK’s upcoming pay-per-mile EV tax as the regulatory equivalent of “one foot on the gas, one on the brake.”

His message was clear: without a regulatory “reset,” Europe risks losing its manufacturing base altogether.

Ford returning to the supermini class isn’t nostalgia—it’s survival strategy. The Renault-based Fiesta successor and its crossover sibling won’t just fill holes in Ford’s lineup; they could define Ford’s viability in Europe for the next decade.

Affordable EVs with real Ford personality? That’s the promise.
An industrial blueprint that finally stops the bleeding? That’s the hope.

And if Ford pulls off a proper electric Fiesta—one that drives like a Ford should—it might just rebuild the European loyalty the brand has spent the last five years eroding.

Source: Autocar