Peugeot’s new 107 proves that cheap and cheerful need not translate into cheap and nasty when used to describe an entry-level car.
The 107 sells in three variants, and even the base-model XR comes with five doors, dual airbags, electrically assisted power steering, ABS brakes, a rear wiper and a full-sized spare wheel. For less than R90Â 000 that’s a lot of specification.
Add air con and a radio/CD player, and the price goes up to R94Â 900, which sounds like a bargain to me, and the range-topping 107 C-line comes with side airbags, electric front windows, a 50:50 split rear seat, rear headrests and a rev counter, along with black plastic protective side strips, all for R105Â 900.
One of the reasons the Peugeot can be sold so affordably is that production costs have been reduced through benefits of scale. The car is produced in the Czech Republic, in a joint-venture plant that has the capacity to produce 320Â 000 cars a year. Not all of these are badged as Peugeots, though — Toyota sells the same basic vehicle as the Aygo, and Citroen sells their version as the C1, also launched in South Africa at Auto Africa two weeks ago.
All three of the 107 derivatives on sale here use the same engine and gearbox combination — an all-aluminium, one-litre, three-cylinder petrol unit, with four valves per cylinder and variable valve timing on the inlet camshaft.
This engine, which weighs in at just 67 kg, is the same unit you’ll find under the bonnet of the entry-level Toyota Yaris, and when we drove it in that car we loved it. Power output in the tune selected by Peugeot is 50 kW at 6Â 000 rpm, with a useful 93 Nm of torque on tap from 3Â 600 rpm. The factory claims overall fuel consumption of just 4,6 litres/100km.
There’s no doubt that the 107 is going to prove a very popular choice in South Africa. It offers loads of value for money, and the engineering is superb. The only concern for local buyers remains the standard of backup and service in this country, which has attracted plenty of criticism in the past. Peugeot swears that it has attended to the problem. We’ll have to wait and see.