Peugeot 306

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 (1996–2002).

Background

The 306 was developed between 1990 and 1992 ready for the 1993 model year. It was a replacement for the Peugeot 309 (which had broken with Peugeot's normal ascending numbering system partly due to it being released before the older and larger Peugeot 305 was axed).

Mechanically, the 306 is virtually identical to the Citroën ZX, which was launched two years before the 306: both cars use the same floorpan and core structure. The 306, with its attractive Peugeot 205 derived Pininfarina styling, was a more successful car than its twin. The Citroën Berlingo and Peugeot Partner were also built on the same platform. The chassis used by the 306 and ZX was also used in the ZX's replacement, the Citroën Xsara. The sharing of platforms between Peugeot and Citroën has been parent company PSA Peugeot Citroën policy since the late 1970s, after the Peugeot takeover of the then bankrupt Citroen in the wake of the 1974 oil crisis. The first car being the Peugeot 104 based Citroën Visa and Citroën LNA and Talbot Samba. The policy continues today throughout the Peugeot and Citroën ranges. The entry level Peugeot 107, Citroën C1 and Toyota Aygo though are a Toyota Design, rather than a PSA one.

Peugeot

Peugeot (US /puːˈʒoʊ/; UK /ˈpɜːrʒoʊ/; French pronunciation: ​[pøʒo]) is a French cars brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën.

The family business that preceded the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applied for the lion trademark. Armand Peugeot built the company's first car, an unreliable steam tricycle, in collaboration with Leon Serpollet in 1889; this was followed in 1890 by an internal combustion car with a Panhard-Daimler engine. Due to family discord, Armand Peugeot in 1896 founded the Société des Automobiles Peugeot.

The Peugeot company and family are originally from Sochaux, France. Peugeot retains a large manufacturing plant and Peugeot museum there. In February 2014, the shareholders agreed to a recapitalisation plan, in which Dongfeng Motors and the French government each bought a 14% stake in the company.

Peugeot has received many international awards for its vehicles, including four European Car of the Year awards. In 2013 and 2014, Peugeot ranked the second lowest for average CO₂ emissions among generalist brands in Europe, the Renault car maker group being ranked first, with 114.9g CO₂/km. Peugeot is known as a very reliable brand, citing how its 1950s and 1960s models are still running in Africa and Cuba in the 2010s, where Peugeot is called "the lion".

Richard Hammond

Richard Mark Hammond (born 19 December 1969) is a British presenter, writer, and journalist. He co-hosted the motoring programme Top Gear with Jeremy Clarkson and James May, from 2002 to 2015 and presented series 1–4 of Brainiac: Science Abuse on Sky1. He also co-hosted Total Wipeout with Amanda Byram on BBC One. Hammond presented Planet Earth Live alongside Julia Bradbury. In 2016 he was scheduled to be presenting an Untitled Amazon motoring show to be produced by their company W. Chump & Sons alongside his former Top Gear co-hosts, as an exclusive distributed via Amazon Video to Amazon Prime customers.

Early life

Hammond was born in Solihull, West Midlands, and is the grandson of workers in the Birmingham car industry. In the mid-1980s Hammond moved with his family (mother Eileen, father Alan, and younger brothers Andrew, writer of the 'Crypt' Series, and Nicholas) to the North Yorkshire cathedral city of Ripon where his father ran a probate business in the market square. He attended Blossomfield Infant School in Shirley from the age of 3-7. Originally a pupil of Solihull School, a fee-paying boys' independent school, he moved to Ripon Grammar School, and from 1986 to 1988 attended Harrogate College of Art and Technology.