Peugeot launches the facelifted Peugeot 508 in Malaysia

It must be Peugeot week here. The official distributor for Peugeot automobiles in Malaysia, Nasim Sdn Bhd has launched the facelifted Peugeot 508 and I was there. The new 508 gets quite a major front end revamp. There is a new family grille with new bumper design and a redesigned bonnet too. There are also full LED technology in the car now. Headlights (which also swivel according to steering angle) are LED as are the daytime running lights, fog lamps and rear lights too. The rear bumper also has a redesign also.

The interior gets a 7 inch multimedia display and is fully loaded with audio, reverse camera, driving aids, connectivity and navigation. A whole lot of stuff as well as JBL speakers (which do sound good as I managed to sit in a display unit and cranked it up a fair bit). Aside from the above, you also get every other goodie you can think of. safety systems, keyless entry, push start, electric parking brake, electrically adjustable seats and other stuff too.

The Peugeot 508 comes sedan and SW (station wagon) models with two engines - the 1.6THP with its 1.6liter turbocharged high pressure turbocharger (THP) that has 165ps and 240nm torque and the 2.2 turbodiesel with 206ps and 450Nm torque. Both get the 6 speed automatic gearbox that as adaptive learning with tiptronic and sport modes for those that want more interaction. You get a 0-100kmh time of 9.2secs and 220kmh max speed with the THP and a 0-100kmh time of 8.4secs and 235kmh in the oil burner. Prices are estimated to start at RM175,000 for the 1.6THP to around RM205,000 for the 508 GT SW. A lot of performance and equipment for the price.

I have to say that Peugeot have revamped the 508 and made it better looking. There are still certain idiosyncrasies that are prevalent in this Peugeot as in other Peugeots. Call it typically French - like the smallish glovebox and no proper place to put your larger smartphones. But this is still just a facelift, and not a total model change. But that being said, the Peugeot 508 is one of the better options to get in terms of how unique it stands out of the crowd of slightly mundane Japanese D segment cars as well as how the car would handle compared to the Japanese too. I mean, you don't win many Car of the Year awards if it wasn't good you know.

Nasim informed us that they hope to be able to sell between 70-90 units of the new 508 monthly. They also stated, quite surprisingly that the 508 is actually their second best selling car in Malaysia behind the 208. This is 16% of the total sales and will contribute to the 6,000 units sales target for 2015. Another bit of trivia is that Peugeot sales in Malaysia account for 71.4% of all Peugeot sales in the ASEAN region. We do love our Peugeots.