CarBrandLogos archive · Peugeot · 1998

Peugeot206

Peugeot's biggest seller ever, built on four continents and three world rally titles.

Photo: Vauxford · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Peugeot history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Peugeot 206, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

1999-2003 Peugeot 206 XR 3-door hatchback

Origins

Following the 205 was an unenviable job, and Peugeot approached it by widening the target. The 206 arrived in May 1998 with softer, more curved surfaces than its predecessor, drawn under Gerard Welter, and a body engineered from the start to spawn variants. Beneath it sat an ordinary front-engine, front-wheel-drive supermini platform with petrol and diesel fours, which was exactly the point: the car had to be cheap to build in very large numbers.

1999-2003 Peugeot 206 XR 3-door hatchback · OSX · Public domain

Design and engineering

It was. Alongside the three and five-door hatchbacks came the 206 SW estate, a 206 SD saloon aimed at markets that preferred a boot, and the 206 CC, a coupe cabriolet with a folding steel roof designed by Murat Gunak and built by Heuliez. The CC brought a body style previously reserved for expensive cars into the supermini class and sold in numbers nobody had forecast.

206CC-Bleue · Zed68 · CC0

2003-2007 Peugeot 206 GTi 180 3-door hatchback

In production

Production sprawled. France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, China, Indonesia and Iran all built the car at some point, and in several of those markets it stayed on sale for years after Europe had moved on, the last French cars leaving Mulhouse in 2012 and Argentine production continuing into 2016. It became the best-selling model in Peugeot's history.

2003-2007 Peugeot 206 GTi 180 3-door hatchback · OSX · Public domain

Legacy

Competition helped. The 206 WRC took world rally manufacturers' titles at the start of the 2000s and put Marcus Gronholm on the drivers' championship twice, which gave a fundamentally sensible small car an edge it would otherwise have lacked. The 207 replaced it in Europe in 2006.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

2006–2013

Engine

Petrol engine

Designer

Gérard Welter (206)#tag:ref

Body

3/5-door hatchback

Technical specification

The 206, in detail.

Production: May 1998 – December 2012 (France) ; July 1999 – January 2007 (UK) ; 2006–2013 (China) ; 2003–2006 (Indonesia) ; 1999–2004 (Chile) ; April 2001 – January 2015 (Brazil) ; July 1999 – December 2016 (Argentina) ; April 2001
Class: Supermini (B)
Body style: 3/5-door hatchback; 2-door coupé cabriolet (206 CC); 5-door station wagon (206 SW); 4-door sedan (206 SD)
Layout: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive
Engine: Petrol engine; Petrol: ; 1.0 litre; L Renault Renault D-Type engine#D4D; D4D Multi-valve#Four valves; 16V Straight-four engine; I4 ; 1.1 L PSA Group; PSA PSA TU engine#TU1; TU1JP Valve#Two-port valves; 8V I4 ;
Transmission: 4-speed ZF AL4 automatic; 5-speed manual; 6-speed manual (motorsport only)
Designer: Gérard Welter (206)#tag:ref; As head of the design team.; group="nb"; Murat Günak (206 CC)
Assembly: France: Mulhouse (PSA Mulhouse Plant; Mulhouse Plant, 3/5-door hatchback) ; France: Poissy (PSA Poissy Plant; Poissy Plant, 206 SW) ; France: Cerizay (Heuliez, 206 CC) ; United Kingdom: Ryton-on-Dunsmore; Ryton (Ryton pl
Manufacturer: Peugeot