A new Peugeot 208 GTI is under consideration, says brand chief

Peugeot's got a new chief, and after just two weeks in the job, Alain Favey is sending us all a quiver by intimating that he's up for bringing back the GTI badge.

“We’re reviewing the whole product plan for the future,” said Favey at the carmaker’s annual E-Lion Day. When asked whether an e-208 GTI is planned, the Peugeot CEO wouldn’t commit to anything definitive but admitted that it's “a question I’ve been asking myself very much”.

Ask away, s'il vous plait Monsieur Favey. And with any luck, land on an affirmative, yeah? It'd be great to see the return of the GTI badge – first born in 1984 and adorning greats such as the 205 and 309 before being discontinued on the 308 in 2020.

Plus, plenty of carmakers are proving the mix of electricity and hot hatch-icity works... kinda.

"I am very eager to connect the Peugeot brand and what it stands for to its past, to its heritage in every sense," added Favey.

"So we will look back at what the heritage of the brand is and we will see to what extent this can be adapted to the modern world. There is nothing excluded in our review of this – certainly not the GTI badge, for sure." Sounds promising.

As he rolls into his third week in the job, Favey's coming full circle, having started his career at PSA (OG parent of Peugeot before Stellantis was birthed). Granted, Favey spent those first 20 years on the Citroen side of things, but let's not dwell on semantics. The former Europcar chief takes over from Linda Jackson, who after 48 years in the car world (the last four of them leading Peugeot) is rumoured to be (justifiably) sipping pina coladas on white, sandy beaches these days.