Sad news to end quite a quiet day. Peugeot has announced that it will be axing the GTI badge, and the hot hatches that go with it.
Many great cars have worn the GTI badge, including the gorgeous 206 and the nippy little 106. This move is part of the “new” Peugeot. Peugeot will now be focusing more on sleek, sporty coupes like the RCZ. There will be no more hot hatches, even without the GTI badge.
Besides this sad news, Peugeot will be preparing a special edition of the 207 to celebrate Kris Meeke’s win in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. This isn’t anything to be excited about though. It will be based on a low-powered 207, the 74bhp 1.4L model, though the 1.6 model may be used instead, but it’s still not a very quick car. This is because the car is being aimed at young drivers, so it needs to be affordable. I suppose they couldn’t use the GTI version not only because of the market they’re aiming at, but also because of the death of the badge.