The Peugeot 206 is a super mini that is, a subcompact car, manufactured by the French automaker Peugeot from 1998 to 2010. During the early 1990s Peugeot decided to stop production of the Peugeot 205 citing the reason that super minis were no longer profitable or worthwhile.
But with super minis still in consumer demand, a new super mini was required for Peugeot to live in the competition with Ford Fiesta and Volkswagen Polo, and the 206 was launched in 1998 by Peugeot as a somewhat belated replacement for the 205. But the launching of the 206 as an upgraded model of 205 with a higher price was criticized in the consumer market and the media. The 206 model with newer technology, 206 GTi HDi however effective it may be, was never seen as a new car thus, although the company tried to sell it as a complete new car.
The features that the Peugeot thought of marketing as their leading edge for the car 206 too proved to be not much handy as the dealers complained. For example, the Skoda Fabia vRS and Seat Ibiza FR 1.9 Tdi, both packing 130bhp and 229lb ft from their 1.9-litre SOHC engines, is much quicker than 206 whose 9.1sec sprint to 60mph might not sound too shabby but the Seat and Skoda reach 60mph a second earlier. However, though slightly lethargic, the 1560cc engine of 206 has its strengths. It’s smoother and quieter than VW’s noisy 1.9-litre TDi engine, provides a more linear power delivery and suffers no jerking prone unwelcome on/off characteristics. On a second bright note, Peugeot claims 58.9mpg for the combined cycle, which is undoubtedly the lowest fuel consumption figure for anything of remotely similar performance. In its comparison, the Ibiza FR achieves 56.5mpg and the Fabia vRS 55.4mpg, both actually disadvantaged by their larger capacity engines. Peugeots’ CO2 emissions of just 126g/km beats both VW Group cars, and puts the 206 into the lowest 15 per cent company car tax bracket thanks to the Euro4 compliant engine.
Though it could recreate some of the old charms of the model 306, but 206 has seats which are too high and the wheel, which adjusts for rake only, doesn’t sit anywhere near enough to vertical. It’s a tight fit for the driver’s feet, as the pedal box is far too cramped and the sponginess of the middle pedal makes heel-and-toe changes difficult. Interior fit and finish the 206 gives feel of a much older car with cabin architecture and ergonomics that fail to impress. Buttons for the automatic climate control sit too low on the console and the dash and door plastics feel hard and cheap.
So as the expert dealers say, 206 is an old car, it’s uncomfortable, expensive and isn’t fast enough for a GTI. Worst of all, it simply fails to gel as a driver’s car.
Hence Production of the Peugeot 206 will cease in Europe as dealers are no longer ready to market it – after 13 years – at the end of next year, according to company sources. But even though the 206 has finished production in most markets as of 2010, it is still available in Peugeot’s home country, France, as the ‘206+’. While EU legislation will finally kill it off completely from European market, it is likely to continue to be made in South America, China and Iran.
