Tuning Car Different Brand

With no larger in-house rival from Citroën to base its new supermini on (the Citroën Saxo shared its platform with the 106), Peugeot developed an all-new front drive platform for the 206.

The 206 was originally launched as a hatchback with 1.1 , 1.4 and 1.6 -litre petrol engines and a 1.9 litre diesel engine, a HDi version with common rail coming later. In 1999 a 2.0 litre GTi capable of 210 km/h, and in 2003 a tuned version of the GTi called the Peugeot 206 RC (GTi 180 in the UK), were added to the range. It did 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 7.4s and it reached a top speed of 220 km/h (137 mph) with 180 bhp (130 kW). In 2001, two more versions of the 206 were launched – the 206 CC (coupé convertible) with a folding steel roof and the 206 SW station wagon. A 4-door sedan version, developed with Iran Khodro, was unveiled in late 2005, and it is available in the Iranian, North African, Chinese, Russian, and Bulgarian markets.

Tuning Car Different Brand

Although the 206 moniker indicates a direct continuation from the 205, some critics state that the car should have instead been badged 207. This is because Peugeot launched its latest generation of cars in the early to mid 1990s, with the 106 of 1991, the 306 of 1993 and the 406 of 1995.
Its eventual successor – the Peugeot 207 – was launch in 2006 but Peugeot announced its intention to keep the 206 in production until 2010. As of 2007, the nine-year-old 206 is Peugeot’s best-selling car of all time, and its demise in 2010 will spell an end to the ’06′ generation of Peugeots after almost 20 years.

car black style

During the early to mid-1990s Peugeot decided not to directly replace the iconic Peugeot 205, citing the reason that superminis were no longer profitable or worthwhile. Instead, Peugeot followed a unique strategy and decided that its new, much smaller, supermini, the Peugeot 106 launched in 1991, would take sales from the lower end of the 205 range while the lowlier models of the Peugeot 306 range, launched in 1993 to replace the Peugeot 309, would take sales from the top-end 205s. Between the 106 and 306 Peugeot hoped that the 205 would not need to be replaced, and could be phased out slowly, while customers who would normally plump for the 205 would continue to have a choice with either a smaller or larger car.

Unfortunately for Peugeot, this strategy did not work. With the 205 phased out, sales of rivals’ superminis continued to sell well and even increased, and without a direct competitor to these rivals Peugeot was losing sales fast. A new supermini was required, and the 206 was launched in 1998 as a somewhat belated replacement for the 205.