Peugeot does not build many cars like the Peugeot 307: a 3/5-door hatchback / 2-door coupé cabriolet / 5-door estate / 4-door saloon with ubl, built from 2001 to 2014 in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. Its designer of record is Murat Günak. Production ran to 3,783,529 cars.
The background
The Peugeot 307 is a small family car produced by the French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroën under their Peugeot marque, from 2001 to 2008 in Europe, and was the successor to the Peugeot 306, which was discontinued in 2002 after being in production for nine years.
Using the PSA PF2 platform, it was awarded the European Car of the Year title for 2002, and continued to be offered in China and certain South American markets through 2014, despite the September 2007 French launch of the 308 (its intended successor), which is built on the same platform.
The engineering
Under the skin sits ubl; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. The gearbox is a 5/6-speed manual / 4-speed ZF 4HP20 automatic / 6-speed Aisin Aramox AF40/Aisin TF80SC automatic. The layout matters: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. The wheelbase is 2608 mm (hatchback, coupé cabriolet) / 2612 mm (sedan) / 2710 mm (wagon). These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Where it sits
Where it sits in Peugeot's history is not in doubt: the Peugeot 306 came before it; the Peugeot 308 (hatchback, wagon, coupé cabriolet) / Peugeot 408 (saloon) followed it; it was built at Mulhouse (PSA Mulhouse Plant. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Honda Fit, the Honda Accord, the Hyundai Santa Fe. Its Peugeot stablemates include the Peugeot Onyx and the Peugeot Pars.