Start with what the Peugeot 306 is: a 3/5-door hatchback / 4-door saloon / 5-door estate / 2-door cabriolet with Petrol engine, built from 1993 to 2002, when airbags, anti-lock brakes and Japanese build quality became the world standard. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to Pininfarina (hatchback) / Pietro Camardella at Pininfarina (cabriolet).
Where it came from
The Peugeot 306 is a small family car built by the French car manufacturer Peugeot from 1993 to 2002. It replaced the 309. Peugeot gave the 306 many updates and aesthetic changes to keep up with the competition, and it was replaced by the 307 in 2001. Cabriolet and estate versions continued until 2002. Versions were built in Argentina by Sevel from 1996 to 2002.
Under the skin
The engine is Petrol engine; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. Drive goes through a 4-speed automatic ZF 4HP14 / 4-speed automatic AL4 / 5-speed manual MA 5 / 5-speed manual BE 3/5 / 6-speed manual BE 3/6. The layout matters: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. The wheelbase is 2580 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
In the Peugeot line-up the Peugeot 306 has a clear place: it replaced the Peugeot 309; it handed the line to the Peugeot 307; the factory was Poissy (Stellantis Poissy Plant. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, the Subaru Outback, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. Nearby in the Peugeot catalogue sit the Peugeot Onyx and the Peugeot Pars.