Peugeot Confirms Refreshed Lion, Plans To Climb Sales Ladder By 2015

FOLLOWING THE REVEAL of the SR1 roadster concept on the weekend, Peugeot has today confirmed the concept's refreshed Lion badging will become the brand's new corporate mark.

Accompanying the revised logo - which will make its first appearance with the upcoming RCZ sports car - is a new brand signature: Peugeot, Motion & Emotion.

Along with its updated branding, PSA Peugeot Citroen has today announced plans to climb three places on the international sales ladder by 2015.

With Citroen, also recently rebranded, Peugeot is currently the tenth largest carmaker in the world. It plans to be in seventh place within the next five years.

While he would not be moved on specific details for the company's plans, PSA Peugeot Citroen Managing Director Jean-Marc Gales told Reuters this week that his company is "quite optimistic, given that we had a very good end to 2009".

Between 2010 and 2012, Peugeot and Citroen plan to launch 14 new models around the world. In Australia, the first of these new models will be the Peugeot 3008 in the second quarter of this year, and the RCZ in the third quarter.

For Citroen, the new 2010 C3 and the more upmarket DS3 - designed to rival BMW's MINI - will mark the first of its new models in Australia.

In Europe, both the 3008 and the 5008 - a compact MPV not expected to reach Australian shores - have exceeded sales expectations.

Peugeot says that its new SR1 concept "exhibits the main stylistic codes" of upcoming Peugeot models, exploring and reinterpreting the theme of a 'Grand Touring Roadster'.

While the SR1 does not itself have a production future, Peugeot plans to launch a new model based on its BB1 concept, measuring just 2.5 metres in length.

Built atop a tube-framed chassis and clothed in carbon-fibre body panels, the BB1 is extremely light. Kerb weight is just 600kg - a featherweight by modern standards.

The BB1 is all-electric, and power is stored in two lithium-ion battery packs that can be charged from a wall outlet and topped up by a solar panel array on the car’s roof.

The French carmaker is working to developer greener technology, with its Hybrid4 system and smaller HDi FAP diesel engines joining the brand's range in coming years.