The Peugeot 307 is a family car which has been in production since 2001. In the year 2002, it was awarded the European Car of the Year title. Production continues to this day for the Peugeot 307, despite the launch of the 308, the intended successor to the Peugeot 307. The hatchback production models were first introduced back in European markets in 2001as the successor to the 306. The Peugeot 307s were sold worldwide in Australia, New Zealand and Asia, but not in Canada. Peugeot 307s were even sent to Mexico and were sold in a 1.6 and 2.0 liter engines which were gasoline powered.

The Peugeot 307 made use of a reworked 306 platform, which is consistent with the Citroen Xsara and the Citroen ZX. Despite using the same platform, the 307 is much larger than the 306 in every direction. The styling consistent with the 307 was first seen on the Peugeot 206 and Peugeot 607 models. The Peugeot styling came with upswept headlights and a highly sloped windscreen. The styling seen on the 206 was the first departure from the Pininfarina styling and the 307 is consistent with this departure. The Peugeot 307 has a height of 59.4 inches which lands itself in the middle of the spectrum between small family cars and compact MPVs. Some people even consider the 307 as a low compact MPV because of its height and profile. The wedge shaped body of the Peugeot 307 gives it a very long front end, but the car is equipped with four doors, making the Peugeot 307 a family car.

Initially, the Peugeot 307 was a 3 and 5 door hatchback and was not made into a sedan until the year 2002 with the release of two estate models. The Peugeot 307 Break and 307 SW are externally identical, with the SW version having silver roof bars and a ? length panoramic glass roof as standard equipment. The Peugeot SW is much more versatile than the Peugeot Break model as the SW features an optional third row of removable seats, which makes it of the MPV configuration. The Peugeot SW only exists because a compact MPV was not developed by Peugeot, unlike Citroen. Citroen developed the Xsara Picasso to exhibit a flexible but road stylish car.

The 2005 models of the Peugeot 307 were revised to compete with the rivals that emerged in the market since the original release of the Peugeot 307 in 2001. Among styling changes, the Peugeot 307 featured a larger air intake which was first established by the Peugeot 407.

Rally racing in the form of the Peugeot 307 WRC based on the 307 CC, which replaced the very successful Peugeot 206 WRC in the World Rally Championship in 2004. The vehicle was nicknamed, ?The Flying Frog? and ?The Whale? was plagued by transmission problems and only came into its racing prowess as the model was discontinued at the end of 2005.