Peugeot eyes right-hand drive for 408

The Peugeot 408 has an extended wheelbase.

The car has an extended wheelbase allowing for more interior space.Ken Thomas, Peugeot Automobiles Australia general manager/director

The new Peugeot sedan unveiled in China last week and carrying a 408 badge is not the replacement for the 407 - but it could make its way to New Zealand as an addition to the range.

The four-door 408 is based on the long-wheelbase platform of the 308 Touring wagon and is initially destined for China and other emerging left-hand-drive markets.

It hasn't been signed off for right-hand-drive production, although Peugeot distributors in Australia have hinted that RHD is expected to go ahead.

Peugeot Automobiles Australia general manager/director Ken Thomas told reporters across the ditch that the 408 is an exciting proposition.

"Whilst the car has not been officially confirmed for right-hand drive production at this stage, we are quietly confident that it will be in Australia in the not-too-distant future," he said.

"The car has an extended wheelbase allowing for more interior space and the sedan shape obviously allows for more boot space."

Peugeot says the 408 will first spearhead the carmaker's expanded development programme in China. Despite being present in the Chinese market for only five years, Peugeot sold over 410,000 vehicles in 2009 - a 44 per cent sales increase compared with its 2008 performance.

The carmaker says the new DF 408 sedan should enable it to increase its sales volumes in China by over 30 per cent in 2010 - twice the forecast pace of the market.

This mid-size model has been designed and developed by Peugeot's styling teams in Europe and China, a joint venture set up between PSA Peugeot and the Chinese group DFM.

The car is being produced at the Wuhan plant in Hubei province in China.

It is positioned to become one of the market's benchmark vehicles with a full-year sales target of 100,000 units.

The car that will soon replace the car New Zealanders know as the Peugeot 407 will almost certainly be badged the 508 when it lands here in 2011.