Fresh hot hatch showdown shapes up: New Peugeot boss mulls return of electric 205 GTi as potential sporty EV to rival Alpine A290 and Abarth 500e

If there’s one thing French carmakers do well, it’s front-drive hot hatches. 

The Peugeot 205 GTi and Renault 5 GT were cars for the car-loving people, and the two brands would go on to duke it out for front-wheel drive driving supremacy for nearly 40 years. 

A new electric hot-hatch showdown could be shaping up for the 2020s, if a report by British publication Autocar, which spoke to Peugeot CEO Aialan Favey, is anything to go by. 

Favey told Autocar that bringing back the GTi badge is “a question I’ve been asking myself very much… I am very eager to connect the Peugeot brand with what it stands for to its past, to its heritage in every sense.

“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 – and there is nothing excluded in our review of this and certainly not the GTi badge, for sure,” Favey told Autocar. 

Favey’s musing sound quite close to archrival Renault’s plan. Although the iconic Renault Sport is gone, Alpine has stepped in with Formula 1 tie-ins to create a spicier version of the Renault 5, known as the Alpine A290. 

The 5 has been a runaway success for Renault; retro without being pastiche it plays perfectly on brand heritage. Desirability has helped the new 5 rocket to France’s favourite electric car, selling almost triple the Peugeot E-208 and smashing the Tesla Model Y at home.

Australia’s Renault importer Ateco is working on securing more models for our market and the electric 5 is at the very top of the list. 

Peugeot, meanwhile, is only bringing in a small number of electric E-308s with a hefty price tag. The brand has also been without a sporting model since the excellent 308 GTi left in 2018. 

Favey’s comments are no confirmation that GTi will return, but with other carmakers showing that sporty electric cars can be successful, Peugeot may join in. 

Parent company Stellantis also owns Fiat and by extension Abarth which sells its sport 113.7kW 500e here with firmer suspension, bigger wheels, interior upgrades and a simulated exhaust sound.

If Peugeot chooses to resurrect the GTi badge, it’s unlikely to be on the current 208.

Instead, a new generation model is expected in 2026 using the STLA Small platform — a flagship GTi with design inspiration from the iconic 205 could be just the ticket to drive sales. 

Power output in excess of 160kW, stiffer suspension, sporty alloy wheels and a snazzy interior are must-haves. See top render image by Larsondesign for an imagination.

Whether a new 208 comes to Australia is an entirely different question. Peugeot’s local range in small and, unlike Renault or Hyundai, it has not enjoyed quite such success with its hot versions locally.