Back in 2011. That year, the PSA group was at its worst and was preparing numerous job cuts. After defeating Audi in 2009 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and putting up formidable resistance to the German prototypes the following year, Peugeot Sport prepared the 908 HYbrid4 to once again attack the machines of the brand with the rings and recover victory at the 24 Hours Le Mans. Unfortunately, the program was abruptly abandoned because it was deemed “politically indefensible” at a time when jobs needed to be cut and savings made.
The current Peugeot 9X8 has still not managed to win the 24 hours of Le Mans. Since its debut in 2022, it has struggled to get closer to the level of the best cars in the Hypercar category (Toyota, Ferrari, Porsche) and had to go through a major technical evolution at the start of the last season. Just a few weeks ago, Peugeot Sport was preparing for the 2025 season with the ambition of achieving much better results. Just before the resignation of Carlos Tavares as CEO of Stellantis…
Without Tavares, what future for the program?
It turns out that Peugeot Sport's program at the highest level of endurance had been ordered by Carlos Tavares. It was he who threw the lion brand back into the deep end of international motorsport after having carefully assessed the profitability of such a program (seduced by the cost reduction promised by the new Hypercar regulations).
Now that the Italians of Exor are regaining leadership at the top of Stellantis, they who are known to be very close to Ferrari which won the last two editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mansshould we be worried about the future of Peugeot Sport's Hypercar program in a context where the group's sales and profitability are collapsing?
A withdrawal of Peugeot Sport without having managed to sign the slightest victory since the start of the 9X8 program would obviously be a real snub. Undoubtedly even worse than the end of the 908 program in 2011 while a new version of the very competitive car was preparing to compete for victory the following year.
As the journalists from L'Equipe wonder, we can also wonder what will happen to Stellantis' commitments in Formula E where two of its brands are present (DS Automobiles and Maserati). Knowing that the first has already won everything in the discipline and that the second perhaps does not have much to gain, a withdrawal from the discipline would not be shocking at this level.
