History of Peugeot

The French company Peugeot was founded in 1896. Thanks to a successful approach to building the first model, Peugeot was able to immediately find its buyer and began to produce up to 500 copies of its first car annually. In addition, in parallel with the release of cars, the company was engaged in the production of bicycles, which provided a good profit for subsequent investments in the creation of new car models.

In 1905, the second Peugeot BeBe was introduced, which became the most popular car in the French automobile market from 1905 to 1910. And in 1913, another model was introduced, called the Peugeot Goux and having a 7.6-liter power unit, the most powerful among those produced in France. Thanks to this model, the company was able to make itself known to the whole world, since it was on the Goux that the speed record was set on the Indianapolis highway in the United States of America. However, after the start of the First World War, the French brand switched to the production of military equipment and heavy trucks for the needs of the army and government.

In 1919, the first mass-produced Peugeot car was introduced – the Quadrilette model, equipped with a 0.6-liter engine. A year later, the Type 156 model came out, equipped with a more powerful power unit of 25 horsepower. In 1926, Peugeot was the first in France to start producing passenger cars equipped with a diesel engine. Three years later, the Peugeot 201 model with independent suspension was introduced – the cheapest car on the French car market.

Another model was the world’s first convertible with a retractable roof, created by Peugeot in 1934. This was followed by several models of compact cars with aerodynamically stylized designs. A year later, the first French luxury car, the Peugeot 402, was introduced, which had a significant impact on the design of post-war cars of many automakers in Europe.

After the outbreak of the Second World War, all factories of the brand switched to the production of military equipment for the needs of the army of France and Belgium, the products included Peugeot armored cars, aircraft engines and even machine guns. However, the occupation seriously hit the well-being of the company, and the release of the first Peugeot electric car did not help either. Only 377 copies were sold, after which the government of the country banned its further sales.

Production of Peugeot cars resumed only in 1946, after the release of the compact family model 202, which was quickly replaced by the more advanced Peugeot 203 in 1949. Since 1955, the company has begun cooperation with the Italian design studio Pinifarina, resulting in a completely new Peugeot 403. And since 1958, the French concern has entered the automobile market of the United States of America, offering its reliable and inexpensive cars with a huge discount, which in terms of 30% of the cost of models in the automotive market in Europe.

In 1961, a new generation of the mid-size 404 model was introduced, which occupied an even greater market share than the Peugeot 403. In 1963, a new prestigious model 504 coupe was introduced, which became a joint creation with the same Pininfarina studio. After 3 years, an agreement was announced with one of the main competitors – the Renault concern, which became Peugeot’s technology partner for a long 14 years. In the course of cooperation, six-cylinder 2.7-liter power units were developed, installed on the most expensive models of both brands.

In 1972, a collaboration with Volvo was announced, and just two years later, thanks to a generous subsidy from the French government, Peugeot bought a controlling stake in another French brand, Citroen, mired in debt due to excessively wasteful approach to creating new models. Thus, the Peugeot management got a popular brand at its disposal, which had a number of patents and developments. In addition, the successful acquisition provided the company with a real racing team, which was part of one of Citroen’s subsidiaries, the Maserati brand. However, just six months later, in 1975, Maserati was sold, which allowed the new Peugeot-Citroen concern to avoid a crisis situation.

In 1978, the combined company Peugeot-Citroen buys out the European division of the American concern Chrysler, as it was on the verge of bankruptcy due to its inability to compete with European brands. However, the concern suffered only serious losses from this acquisition, which led to the onset of a long crisis and loss of profit in the period from 1980 to 1985.

In part, the situation was rectified by expanding the brand’s presence in China and the Middle East. Joint ventures were established with the Chinese concern “Donfen” and with the Iranian company “Iran Khodro”. Commercial vehicles under the Peugeot and Citroen brands, equipped with diesel power units of increased wear resistance, were also presented.

Throughout the post-war history of the Peugeot-Citroen concern, his life was inextricably linked with motorsport. In 1981, the Peugeot factory team won the World Rally Championship. The navigator from the championship crew, the young mechanic Jean Todt, who later became the head of the Ferrari racing team and the International Automobile Federation, at the request of the Peugeot management, began to create a sports division of the brand. However, it ceased to exist in 1999, passing under the control of Citroen, who successfully used an extensive technical base and created the most successful rally team in history, winning 9 titles in a row with Sebastien Loeb.

By the beginning of the 21st century, the seventh generation of Peugeot cars was presented, and the first of them was the Peugeot 307. However, sales in the United States of America and Canada did not live up to expectations, and in 2009 the French concern left the North American automotive market, concentrating only on technical support for the vehicles of its new partner, the Japanese brand Mitsubishi. It was Japanese engineers who helped the French concern to release their first all-wheel drive cars – Peugeot 4007 and Citroen C-Crosser in 2008. Collaboration with Mitsubishi allowed for another upgrade, such as the introduction of all-wheel drive platforms for full-size sedans, as well as wide-travel sports gearboxes.

In 2010, a joint venture was established with Mitsubishi for the production of diesel power units intended for installation on the entire current model range of Peugeot-Citroen. In addition, in 2012 the first electric car of the concern under the Citroen brand was presented, which was also developed jointly with the Japanese concern Mitsubishi. In 2013, the company’s first vehicles with fully environmentally friendly diesel powertrains were introduced to comply with the new Euro 5 pollution standards introduced from 2015 throughout the European Union.