Final Peugeot 308 leaves Sochaux factory

Since 1912 the Sochaux factory in eastern France has been home to Peugeot manufacturing, and in 2010 the plant celebrated a milestone of 20 million vehicles produced.

Some 1.38 million of those were the hugely-successful, second-generation (T9) Peugeot 308 hatch and wagon, which commenced production in 2013 and ended this week with a white 308 Active (base model) being the last down the line. The car will be kept by Peugeot, which also curates a museum and classic-car restoration facility in the town.

The production team celebrated with a 308 logo-shaped profiterole cake, and will continue to manufacture the 3008 and 5008 SUVs at the factory.

Peugeot's T9-series 308 won the coveted European Car of the Year award in 2014 and pioneered the 'i-Cockpit' instrument cluster and small steering wheel setup now found across the Peugeot range.

The final high-performance 308 GTi was completed in December 2020, with the model signifying the final use of the GTi designation by Peugeot.

The all-new third-generation 308, which goes on sale in its native France this month, is built nearly 60km to the east in Mulhouse, near the French-German border.

The T9 line at the Sochaux factory will be retooled to build an all-new 3008 SUV, which will use parent company Stellantis' latest 'STLA Medium' electric platform, due to be launched in 2023.