New 500hp 308 R HYbrid Seen On Peugeot CEO's Tweets, Production Version?

Peugeot CEO Picat Maxime has posted a pair of interesting pictures showing his boss, PSA Peugeot Citroen boss Carlos Tavares, entering a hot variant of a 308 that’s only partly camouflaged with the hashtag #Peugeot308RHYbrid.

Could this be conclusive proof that Peugeot is bringing their 500hp, 730Nm (in Hot Lap mode) hyper hatch concept into the market? It would certainly seem that way. If we're lucky, they've kept the insane performance figures too. Picat also said the words ‘radical performance', which is encouraging. 

If it does stay true to the concept, the electrically-augmented 308’s powertrain would be made up of a RCZ R-derived four-cylinder 1.6-litre THP 270 S&S engine providing 270hp, matching the output of the recently revealed 308 GTi. Two electric motors are added in with 115hp each and sends drive the front and rear axle, bringing the total output to that lofty 500hp maximum.

We’ve already detailed the 308 R HYbrid when it was revealed towards the lead-up to the 2015 Shanghai Auto Show, but so far was only known to us as a concept. The red car we see above does have a number of little cues that indicate it’s more aggressive nature, although it sheds the concept’s two-tone paint job and the red highlights on its 19-inch wheels.

Hopefully, we’ll be seeing more of Peugeot’s part-electric super hatch as the car draws closer and closer to a full unveil.