Peugeot
Peugeot, a French car brand, is part of PSA Peugeot Citroën Group. Armand Peugeot in 1896 founded the Société des Automobiles Peugeot. Its first four-wheeled car had a gasoline-fueled internal combustion engine built by Panhard under license from Daimler. The first Peugeot engine was a rear-mounted, two-cylinder design with eight horsepower.
By 1910, Peugeot’s product line included a 1,149-cubic centimeter two-cylinder and six four-cylinder engines of between 2,000 and 6,000 cubic centimeters. A new factory at Sochaux became the main plant in 1928.
In 1934 came the Peugeot 402 BL Éclipse Décapotable, the first retractable hardtop convertible. Three other interesting models of the ’30s were the Peugeot 202, 302, and 402. The basic 202, in production from 1938 to 1942, raised Peugeot’s annual sales to 52,796 in 1939, just behind those of Citroën.
The popular 1947 Peugeot 203 had coil springs, rack-and-pinion steering, and hydraulic brakes. The 203, in production until 1960, set new Peugeot sales records. Another popular model with a 1,500-cubic centimeter engine was the 1955 Peugeot 403, more than one million of which sold during its production run to 1962. Peugeot began to sell cars in the USA in 1958, introduced in 1960 the Peugeot 404, and in 1969 the highly distinctive, Pininfarina-styled 504, a two- or four-door family car with a carbureted, four-cylinder, 1,800-cubic centimeter, 79-horsepower engine with optional fuel injection and a four-speed manual transmission or an optional three-speed automatic. The 504 won the 1969 European Car of the Year award.
In 1974 Peugeot bought a 30-percent stake in Citroën and in 1975 took complete control. The joint company, the Peugeot Société Anonyme (PSA) Group, kept separate identities for both Peugeot and Citroën brands while they shared engineering and technical resources. PSA took over the Chrysler European Division 1978 as the American manufacturer struggled for survival.
As with some other European producers, Peugeot’s USA and Canadian sales became unprofitable as the Peugeot 505 design aged. In the early ’90s, the new Peugeot 405 sold fewer than 1,000 cars. Total sales of only 4,261 in 1990 and 2,240 July 1991 caused the company to discontinue American and Canada operations after 33 years.
Peugeot has a long way to go to reach its target of selling 4 million cars units annually. In 2008 sales remained below 2 million. However, Peugeot still plans to compete in market segments where it now does not. In 2011 Peugeot decided to return to the Indian market after 14 years with a new factory at Sanand, Gujarat. Peugeot re-entered the Philippine market in 2012 after a brief 2005 presence.
In October 2013, Peugeot closed their Aulnay-sous-Bois plant to reduce overproduction for a contracting domestic market. In February 2014, the Peugeot family agreed to relinquish control by reducing its shareholdings from 25 to 14 percent. Per this agreement, Dongfeng Motors and the French Government would buy 14-percent stakes, constituting three partners with equal voting rights. The board of directors will have six independent members, two each for Dongfeng, the government, and the Peugeot family, and two members representing employees and employee shareholders.
