Q&A with Gilles Vidal

By Jack Rix

23rd July 2010

What can you tell us about the new 508, set to debut at the Paris show?
It’s the first production car to show clear inspiration from the SR1 concept. It has a much quieter and elegant front end, but if I’m honest I came in late on this car and only helped touch up the grille – it was mainly [Jean-Pierre] Ploue’s work and he’s done a great job.

What’s the thinking behind the shrinking front grilles?
The current crop of cars are hyper-sporty. As a rule of thumb a huge front grille means huge performance, but that doesn’t need to be the case anymore – performance can be a turn off for people nowadays which is why the 508 has a more responsible look.

While most companies are expanding their ranges and filling every niche, you are axeing the 407 and 607, and replacing them with only the 508, why?
This sector of the market is worth 1.8 million cars a year in Europe, so it’s still very lucrative. But it’s shrinking fast – it makes up around 13 per cent of total car sales now, whereas it used to be closer to 30 per cent. It made sense to consolidate two models into one with a broader appeal.

Will the SR1 concept ever make production?
I wish! If we were to build the SR1 it would land us right into Porsche and Aston Martin territory, which is somewhere we don’t need to be competing. The point of the SR1 is to lay out the template for all future Peugeots. The SR1 itself is a bit overcomplicated, but it gives us plenty of cues to use elsewhere in the range. You will see a concept at Paris that’s closely linked to the SR1, but not sporty.

Part of your job is to keep Peugeot and Citroen styling separate. What do you see as the fundamental difference between the two brands?
If you look at Citroen’s latest models like the DS3 and C4 they are quite wildly different. There’s not much of a theme running through them, but it works for the Citroen brand. At Peugeot we need to plan each model carefully so it has a strong and clean look, and each new model ties together perfectly with other cars in the range.

The BB1 has been confirmed for production, what stage are you at now?
We are currently trying to decide whether to design the car as a quadricycle or a car. The problem with quadricycles is that the regulations can vary massively from country to country. Whatever happens we want to keep the design as radical as possible and keep the four-seater layout.

Renault is proving that a budget sub-brand (Dacia) can be lucrative, will Peugeot be reviving the Talbot name?
Peugeot actually owns the rights to around 12 brands, including Talbot. But whether we’re about to revive it or not I can’t say – that’s for the marketing department right now. It sounds like a sensible idea though.

Do you still do much freehand sketching now you’re the boss?
I don’t actually. I keep a sketch pad with me which I like to doodle in when I’m in a boring meeting – Adrian van Hooydonk (BMW’s design chief) does the same thing. We sometimes compare our scribbles and have a laugh.

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