The Peugeot 206 was one of the most popular cars ever produced and it was the best selling car in Europe from 2001 through to 2003. Nobody was more surprised about this than Peugeot; the 206 didn’t even fit into their original marketing model and it was only because of their lack of success with the 106 that the 206 was launched. Before then Peugeot has concluded that the future cars such as the 205 was limited.

How wrong the company was. Once the 205 became unavailable the popularity of cars such as the Volkswagen Polo and the Ford Fiesta rocketed and Peugeot had no offering that it could use to compete. The 106 was too small and the 306 too large. Peugeot needed to do something and to do something fast. As a result they launched a massive development programme which resulted in a fast tracked 206 which was launched in 1998. By 2010 more 206 models had been sold than any other car.

The first 206 models were standard hatchbacks with a number of petrol engine options and one fairly basic diesel unit. This was later augmented with some common rail diesel engines and some much more powerful petrol units. The model range was extended by the introduction of a fast GTi version along with an estate (the 206 SW) and a highly innovative coupe cabriolet with a metal folding roof.

The 206 represented very good value for money though the car was far from perfect. There were numerous recalls and some general reliability problems, though that did little to dent the huge sales volume the car achieved.

Production of the 206 came to an end in 2008 when it was replaced by the 207, which addressed some of the weaknesses encountered in the 206.

However, the 206 remains an excellent and very popular used car buy. If you are looking at cars for sale by this manufacturer visit www.motors.co.uk