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MILESTONE 306 ARRIVES IN AUSTRALIA
The two millionth 306 built by Peugeot has arrived in Australia and to celebrate, this unique vehicle has been given away.
The 2,000,000th 306, a Diablo Red Cabriolet, came off the Poissy production line on November 16,1998, five years after the 306 debuted in Europe.
The compact 306 has been the cornerstone of Peugeot's increasing popularity around the world through the 1990s and is Automobile Peugeot's best performing export model with just over 70 percent of production shipped to 145 countries.
The 306 appeared in its current second generation guise in mid-1997 and the addition of standard features such as a passively armed engine immobiliser, major body structure reinforcements and new engines have helped the model maintain competitiveness in the hotly contested small/medium segment.
Available locally in three-and five door hatchback models as well as a four door sedan and two door Cabriolet the 306 is sold in wagon form in other markets.
A choice of 1.8 and 2.0-litre petrol engines and now a 1.9-litre turbo diesel (in the just arrived 306 XRDT sedan) provides a wide range of engine and body combinations.
THE ULTIMATE GETAWAY
To celebrate the arrival of the 2,000,000th 306 Peugeot Concessionaires Australia developed a give-away promotion with the Nine Network's popular travel show Getaway.
Run over five weeks the competition generated 260,000 telephone entries, the most ever registered for a Getaway promotion.
The lucky winner of this rather special five-speed manual 306 Cabriolet, complete with full leather trim and on-road costs, was Mr John Cooper of Victor Harbour, South Australia.
CABRIO CONTRIBUTION
It's highly appropriate the 2,000,000th 306 was a Cabriolet, with the 50,000th example of that model recently produced jointly by Peugeot and famous Italian design house Pininfarina.
Over 1,000 306 Cabriolets have been sold in Australia since its local launch in 1994, the success marked by the availability of a colour-matched roof versions of the car in Diablo Red, China Blue and Cosmos Grey.
MULTI-AWARD WINNER
Since its launch the 306 has been the recipient of a long list of local and international awards.
Having been named Car of the Year by What Car? magazine in the UK and picking up the Golden Steering Wheel Award in Germany, the 306's arrival in Australia was greeted by the NRMA, Motor Magazine and RACy's 1994 Best Small Car awards.
In 1996 and 1997, against more recently released competition, the 306 was judged the Best Small Car in Queensland's QCAR Awards (run jointly by The Courier Mail and RACQ) and the RACT's Best Cars of '96 and '97.
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