Company history

Although the Peugeot factory had been in the manufacturing business for some time, their entry into the world of wheeled vehicles was by means of the bicycle. Armand Peugeot (educated at the Ecole Centrale Paris) introduced the Peugeot “Le Grand Bi” penny-farthing in 1882 and a range of bicycles. Peugeot bicycles have been built until very recently, although the car company and bike company parted ways in 1926.

Armand Peugeot became very interested in the automobile early on, and after meeting with Gottlieb Daimler and others was convinced of its viability. The first Peugeot automobile (a three-wheeled steam-powered car) was produced in 1889, in collaboration with Léon Serpollet. Steam power was heavy and bulky and required lengthy preparation before running, so it was soon abandoned in favor of the petrol-fueled internal combustion engine.

1890 saw the first such vehicle, powered by a Daimler engine and with four wheels.

Further cars followed, twenty-nine being built in 1892. Peugeot became the first manufacturer to fit rubber tires to a petrol-powered car that year (solid tires; pneumatic would follow in 1895). The vehicles were still very much horseless carriages in appearance and were steered by tiller.

1896 saw the first Peugeot engines; no longer were they reliant on Daimler. Further improvements followed; the engine was soon under a hood (bonnet) at the front of the car, instead of hidden underneath, the steering wheel was adopted, and they began to look more like the modern car.

Peugeot added a motorcycle to its range in 1903, and motorcycles have been built under the Peugeot name ever since.

In 1913 a Peugeot driven by Jules Goux won the Indianapolis 500. This car was powered by a Straight-4 engine designed by Ernest Henry, which had been successful in Grand Prix racing. The design was very influential for racing engines as it featured for the first time DOHC and 4 valves per cylinder providing for high engine speeds, a radical departure from previous racing engines which relied on huge displacement for power. When one of the Peugeot racers remained in the United States during World War I and parts could not be acquired from France for the 1914 season, owner Bob Burma had it serviced in the shop of Harry Arminius Miller, by a young mechanic named Fred Offenhauser. Their familiarity with the Peugeot engine was the basis of the famed Miller racing engine, which later developed into the Offenhauser, or “Offy” racing engine

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By that year, Peugeot produced half of the cars built in France. 1916 and 1919 saw repeat wins at Indianapolis.

During the 1914-1918 years Peugeot turned largely to arms production, becoming a major manufacturer of arms and military vehicles, from bicycles to tanks and shells. Postwar, car production resumed in earnest; the car was becoming no longer just a plaything for the rich but accessible to many. 1926, however, saw the cycle (pedal and motor) business separate to form Cycles Peugeot — the consistently profitable cycle division seeking to free itself from the rather more boom-and-bust auto business.

1929 saw the introduction of the Peugeot 201, the first car to be numbered in what became the Peugeot way — three digits with a central zero, a registered Peugeot trademark. It was also the first mass-produced car with independent front suspension. Soon after, the Depression hit; Peugeot sales decreased, but the company survived. In 1933, attempting a revival of fortune, the company unveiled a new, aerodynamically styled range. In the following year, a car with a folding, retractable hardtop was introduced, an idea re-iterated by the Ford Skyliner in the 1950s and, revived by the Mercedes SLK in the mid-1990′s. More recently, other manufacturers have taken to the idea of a retractable hard-top including Peugeot itself with the 307CC.

Three interesting models of the thirties were the 202, 302 and 402. These cars had curvaceous bodies, with headlights behind sloping grille bars. The 402 entered production in 1935 and was produced until the end of 1941, despite France’s being occupied by the Nazis. The 302 ran from 1936-1938. The 202 was built in series from 1938-1942, and about 20 more examples were built from existing stocks of supplies in February 1945. Regular production began again in mid-1946, and lasted into 1949.

In 1948 the company restarted in the car business, with the Peugeot 203. More models followed, many elegantly styled by the Italian design firm of Pininfarina. The company began selling cars in the United States in 1958. Like many European manufacturers, collaboration with other firms increased; Peugeot worked with Renault from 1966 and Volvo Cars from 1972.

In 1974 Peugeot bought a 30% share of Citroën, and took it over completely in 1975 after the French government gave large sums of money to the new company. Citroën was in financial trouble because it developed too many radical new models for the financial resources it had available. Some of these projects, notably the Citroën SM and the Comotor rotary engine venture proved unprofitable. Others, like the Citroën CX and Citroën GS were recent designs that proved very successful in the marketplace.

The joint parent company became the PSA (Peugeot Société Anonyme) group, aiming to keep separate identities for both Peugeot and Citroën brands, but sharing engineering and technical resources. Peugeot thus briefly controlled the valuable racing brand name Maserati, but disposed of it in May 1975 out of short term financial concerns.

Both Citroën enthusiasts and automotive journalists point out that the company’s legendary innovation and flair took a marked downturn with the acquisition. The Citroën brand has continued to be successful in terms of sales, and now achieves over 1 million units annually.

The group then took over the European division of Chrysler (which were formerly Rootes and Simca), in 1978 as the American auto manufacturer struggled to survive. Unlike Citroën, Chrysler Europe had no current designs and the factories acquired were worn-out. Further investments were required because PSA decided to create a new brand for the entity, based of the Talbot sports car last seen in the 1950′s. From then on, the whole Chrysler/Simca range was sold under the Talbot badge until production of Talbot branded passenger cars was shelved in 1986.

The flagship of this short-lived brand was the Tagora, a direct competitor for PSA’s 604 and CX models. This was a large, angular saloon based on Peugeot 505 mechanicals.

The resulting investments caused serious financial problems for the entire PSA group – PSA lost money from 1980 to 1985. The Peugeot takeover of Chrysler Europe had seen the aging Chrysler Sunbeam, Horizon, Avenger and Alpine ranges rebadged as Talbots. There were also new Talbots in the early 1980′s – the Solara (a saloon version of the Alpine hatchback), the Samba (a small hatchback to replace the Sunbeam).

In 1986, the company stopped the Talbot brand for passenger cars when it ceased production of the Simca-based Horizon/Alpine/Solara models. What was to be called the Talbot Arizona became the 309, with the former Rootes and Simca assembly plants in Ryton and Poissy respectively being turned over for Peugeot assembly. The former was significant, as it signalled the very first time Peugeots would be built in Britain. The Talbot name survived for a little longer on commercial vehicles until 1992 before being shelved completely.

As experienced by other European volume car makers, US sales faltered and finally became uneconomic, as the Peugeot 505 design aged. The newly introduced Peugeot 405 proved uncompetitive with models from Japan, and sold less than 1,000 units. Total sales fell to 4,261 units in 1990 and 2,240 through July, 1991. This caused the company to cease U.S. operations after 33 years.

Beginning in the late 1990s, with the presidency of Jean-Martin Folz at PSA, the Peugeot-Citroën combination seems to have found a better balance. Savings in costs are no longer made to the detriment of style.

On April 18, 2006, PSA Peugeot Citroën announced the closure of the Ryton manufacturing facility in England. This announcement will result in the loss of 2,300 jobs as well as about 5,000 jobs in the supply chain

Motorsports

The company has had much success in international rallying, notably with the durable Peugeot 504, highly developed four-wheel-drive turbo-charged versions of the Peugeot 205, and more recently the Peugeot 206. The 206 rally car had a dramatic impact on the world rally championship, beating the Subaru Impreza, Ford Focus and Mitsubishi Lancer, cars which had always traditionally dominated the sport. The 206 was retired practically unbeaten after several successful years, and replaced with the comparatively disappointing Peugeot 307cc.

Throughout the mid-1990s, the Peugeot 406 saloon (called a sedan in some countries) contested touring car championships across the world, enjoying dominant success in France, Germany and Australia, yet failing to win a single race in the highly-regarded British touring car championship despite a number of excellent podium finishes under the command of touring car legend Tim Harvey.

The British cars were prepared by Prodrive in 1996 where the cars sported red livery, and MSD in 1997-1998 where they wore a distinctive green and gold flame design. Initially the 406′s lack of success was blamed on suspension problems, but it is now clear that the team was underfunded and the engine lacked power on tracks which required straight-line acceleration.

In 2001, Peugeot entered three 406 coupes into the British touring car championship to compete with the dominant Vauxhall Astra coupes. Unfortunately the 406 coupe was at the end of its product life-cycle and did not prove competitive, despite some returns to form towards the end of the year, notably when Peugeot’s Steve Soper led a race only to suffer engine failure in the last few laps. The 406 coupes were retired at the end of the year and replaced with the Peugeot 307 – again, uncompetitively – in 2002.

Until its withdrawal at the end of 2005, Peugeot entered the Peugeot 307cc in the World Rally Championship. Peugeot won the grueling Paris Dakar Rally each year from 1987 to 1990.

In the 1990s the company raced at the Le Mans 24 Hours race, winning in 1992 and 1993 with the 905. It will come back in 2007, with the 908 powered by a diesel engine. Peugeot have some involvement with the Courage C60 Le Mans racing team.

The company has also been involved in providing engines to Formula One teams, notably McLaren in 1994, Jordan for the 1995, 1996 and 1997 seasons, and Prost for the 1998, 1999 and 2000 seasons

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