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).
Modellen afløste Peugeot 309 (som ikke fulgte Peugeots sædvanlige navngivningssystem, fordi den blev introduceret før den større og ældre Peugeot 305 udgik).