Peugeot Citroen (PSA) cars always seem to be slow to respond to the market.

 

This generation of the 508 and C5 have been launched for more than 5 years, and it is time to consider replacing them with other models, but they are basically unchanged at the moment, and they are only maintaining their competitiveness by cutting prices. At the beginning of the generation change a few years ago, their 2.0L and 2.3L naturally aspirated engines were already behind in terms of parameters, but they have allowed their two flagship models to always lag behind their rivals in terms of power, and waited until the end of 2014 to start replacing these two cars with new turbocharged engines.

 

As a result, PSA's cars, in the media for several years, can only turn over and over the main chassis tuning card. PSA does have a traditional advantage when it comes to chassis tuning, but who really believes that they can always stay at the top of the handling in the face of the ever-changing and "decentralized" technology of premium cars, such as the Focus, Nexera and Accord? Looking at the handling of the 508 and C5 by the standards of today's B-segment cars, the chassis is indeed both stable and flexible, but it is not as clear as the orientation of the Mazda 6 or Accord in terms of sportiness, and the vague steering feel also hinders their handling performance.

 

Although the current 508 and C5 have been replaced with new engines, the model as a whole still gives the feeling of new wine in an old bottle. Because the entire mid-level car market has undergone too many changes in the past few years, due to China's large-scale consumption upgrades, the average age of the main buyers of mid-level cars has been advanced to about 35 years old, Malibu and K5 and other new cars with distinctive personality and youthfulness have been launched for this purpose, and even the oldest Camry has launched a sports version, and they still stick to the conservative and business image of the previous generation of mid-level cars. PSA has added a number of new technology features to the 508 and C5 in the latest generation, including automatic start-stop, electronic parking brake, new multimedia/navigation system, JBL 10-channel premium audio, BLUE-i remote service, automatic high and low beam adjustment, Nappa premium leather seats, side lane change assist, and more, but other brands have begun to devolve these features to compact cars and even small cars. At present, the more advanced active safety systems are still largely absent in PSA's cars. In addition, the 508 has always been criticized for the unreasonable design of the interior storage space, the rear space is not large enough and other problems, basically not solved, can only be left to replace it before the "major surgery".

 

The quietness of the 508 and C5 cabins is still in the upper middle of the class, but the air conditioning vents of the 508 often have howling problems, and in terms of space performance, these two cars are also a bit behind the times, but their rear seats are actually quite comfortable.

 

In terms of reliability, the 508 and C5 have a decent reputation, but old cars that are more than 5 years old will enter a breakdown-prone period, which is especially evident in the residual value of its used cars.

 

In terms of safety, the Citroen C5 received five stars in the second batch of tests in 2010, with an overall score of 48.2, and in terms of safety, they performed adequately.

 

PSA's cars have a unique charm with their beautiful and artistic design, and there is no shortage of audiences in China for French style, but the performance of the 508 and C5 in the Chinese market is far from reaching the level they should be, but due to the large terminal discounts, it is still a cost-effective choice to buy them now.