RAY MASSEY: Sleek new Peugeot 308 SW estate attracts admiring glances

What a handsome beast! Sitting in my driveway or out on the road, the sleek new Peugeot 308 SW estate attracts admiring glances. 

Rightly so. In design terms, it’s right up there with more expensive premium players such as Audi. And you’ve a choice of three main powertrains: petrol, diesel or petrol-electric hybrid. 

I’ve been driving a new 308 SW 130 Auto PureTech petrol version in Allure Premium trim and a fetching exterior shade called Avatar Blue.

It came generously stocked with comfort and safety features — on top of the high-tech cockpit and dashboard, and with sumptuous soft-touch fabrics and a compact multi-function steering wheel — with an on-the-road price of £29,330; rising to £30,295 with extras that included a heated front windscreen (£200), a camera and parking system (£500) and lane positioning (£200). 

A practical boot-load restraining net (£55) proved useful for the cavernous rear, which increases from 608 litres to 1,634 litres with the back seats down. 

Powered by a smooth and relatively frugal 130hp 1.2litre petrol engine linked to an eight-speed automatic gearbox, it accelerates from rest to 62mph in 9.9 seconds up to a top speed of 130mph, yet still manages up to 52mpg and CO2 emissions of between 122g and 147 g/km. There are three driving modes: normal, sport and eco. 

Ray drove a new 308 SW 130 Auto PureTech petrol version in Allure Premium trim and a fetching exterior shade called Avatar Blue

Powered by a smooth and relatively frugal 130hp 1.2litre petrol engine linked to an eight-speed automatic gearbox, it accelerates from rest to 62mph in 9.9 seconds up to a top speed of 130mph

It came generously stocked with comfort and safety features — on top of the high-tech cockpit and dashboard, and with sumptuous soft-touch fabrics and a compact multi-function steering wheel

A full charge using a standard domestic wall-box charger takes about 3hrs 50mins

The 308 SW estate range starts from £26,580, with plugin hybrids from £33,670

The 308 SW estate is also available in two greener plugin hybrid powertrains in Hybrid 180 or Hybrid 225 variants which combine a 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and a 12.4kWh battery connected to an 81kW electric motor. 

As well as saving fuel when in hybrid-mode, it also allows up to 37 miles of zero-emissions driving in pure electric mode. 

A full charge using a standard domestic wall-box charger takes about 3hrs 50mins, while the optional 7.4 kW charger reduces this to 1 hr 55 mins. There is also the option of a 1.5-litre BlueHDi diesel engine. 

The 308 SW estate range starts from £26,580, with plugin hybrids from £33,670. 

Fancy printing yourself a supercar? 

The Czinger 21C hybrid hypercar is the brainchild of Kevin Czinger and his electrical engineer Yale graduate son Lukas, who have harnessed artificial intelligence and advanced 3D printing to design and build their powerful £2million carbon-fibre bodied machine. 

They believe their techniques could revolutionise motor manufacturing. 

Revolutionary: The Czinger 21C hybrid hypercar is the brainchild of Kevin Czinger and his electrical engineer Yale graduate son Lukas

Weighing just 1,250kg, a twin turbo 2.9-litre V8 petrol engine linked to two 800-volt electric motors powering the front wheels through a seven-speed gearbox, it develops 1,250 hp that propels it from rest to 62mph in just 1.9 seconds.

The two-seater seats the driver in front of the passenger. Only 80 are to be built, and HR Owen has the exclusive sales deal in the UK.

I saw the car up close at Goodwood Festival of Speed and it’s now starring at Monterey Car Week in California. 

Used car sales hit by shortage of stock 

Used car sales shrank by almost a fifth in the second quarter of 2022, but industry bosses blame a shortage of stock rather than near record prices amid a cost of living crisis. 

But with no sign yet of used prices falling, some experts believe pressure on incomes and worries about the future have led some owners to hold onto their cars for longer. 

Shortage of stock: Used car sales shrank by almost a fifth in the second quarter of 2022

Some 1,759,684 used vehicles changed hands between April and June, down 407,820 on last year. 

The SMMT says the drop is down to a ‘knock-on’ from issues strangling the new car market for the last two years — namely the shortage of semiconductor chips and the lingering effects of Covid lockdowns. 

Ian Plummer, director of car sales website Auto Trader, said: ‘The market is reeling from a blow in basic economics — there’s simply not enough cars to sell.’