Peugeot 308, Peugeot 308 SW, Peugeot 408, Opel Astra, Opel Astra ST, Opel Manta, DS4 and Citroën C5X: these are the eight silhouettes already committed to the product plan of Stellantis and its European brands. They are all based on the EMP2 V3 platform (evolution 3 of EMP2), a version inaugurated by the DS4 at the time of the launch of the “DPE” programme. This originally included only the DS4, 308 and C5X. The Astra was added to this programme, while the 408 was an integral part of Peugeot’s P5 programme with the P51 (308), P52 estate (308 SW) and the famous P54 (408).
Pierre-Paul Mattei nevertheless specifies that although it is the same platform for the 308/408, “the cars do not have the same ground clearance, the same tracks or the same wheels”, but there are elements that are predefined within the framework of each of the projects and which, for the time being, will be borrowed by all the models designed within the framework of this “DPE” programme.
If we consider – as Peugeot says loud and clear – that the new 408 fits into the ‘C’ segment of European ‘compacts’, only Citroën (while waiting for the Opel Manta?) is in the upper segment. Logically, in order to keep prices down, Citroën bases its silhouettes on platforms one notch below those of its internal competitors, while waiting for Fiat to do the same. Thus, the C5X has taken full advantage of the dimensions of the EMP2 V3 platform to offer a 4.81 m long tourer, while Peugeot, with its short wheelbase, offers its 308 at only 4.37 m.
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The flexibility of this platform is more apparent, with a wheelbase that can be increased by 50/60 mm steps to go from a compact saloon (308: wheelbase of 2.67 m) to a large tourer (C5X: wheelbase of 2.79 m). Even if Peugeot does not like to compare the 408 to the C5X – the size is not quite the same – the two cousins have the same wheelbase and both have large 72 cm wheels.
Of course, the proportions are similar, especially as the Citroën, like the Peugeot, boasts a generous boot volume and legroom in row 2. The rest is a matter of style and overhangs, which are slightly smaller on the Peugeot. In the middle of the decade, the Opel Manta will probably be based on this EMP2 V3 platform and will join these silhouettes with an architecture close to that of the 408 and C5X. In 2023, the EMP2 V3 will undergo a further, even more significant evolution, as it will also be offered as a 100 percent electric vehicle. It will then be called e-VMP and will be inaugurated by the future Peugeot 3008.
