Only a few automotive companies have defied time and season to remain profitably active for eons. One of them is Peugeot. Founded over 200 years ago in Sochaux, France, Peugeot has for several decades flown the French flag highly and admirably in the automotive productions circle. The company has a rich history, starting as a family business that had nothing to do with automobiles, but more to do with the production of hand tools through a steel foundry business.Subsequently, in the late 1880s, Peugeot launched its automotive production arm, a highly successful venture that saw it become a force to reckon with in the French economy, and at some point, one of the biggest players in world automotive production. Now under the control of parent company Stellantis, Peugeot is launching daring plans for the future. However, we dug into its past, and we found these interesting details about the legendary French company and its iconic cars.
10 Founder
The Peugeot Company started as a family business back in 1810, and its main commerce was a steel foundry that fabricated several things such as coffee grinders, umbrella frames, kitchen equipment, and then bicycles. However, Peugeot, in modern history, is widely known for the production of automobiles, and that’s directly linked to the vision and ambition of one man, Armand Peugeot.
Born in 1849, Armand Peugeot was the grandson of Jean-Pierre Peugeot, and he assumed the reigns of the company in 1865.
9 First Motorized Car
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Peugeot produced its first-ever motorized vehicle in 1889. A Serpollet Tricycle, officially known as the Peugeot Type 1, this pioneering vehicle was built by Armand Peugeot in collaboration with a French engineer and developer of steam automobiles, Léon Serpollet.
Also, the design of the tricycle is credited to Léon Serpollet, and being a steam tricycle, it was powered by an oil-fired boiler and a single-cylinder engine featuring crankcases and poppet valves. Updated versions produced about 5 horsepower, possessing a top speed of 16 mph. Only four examples were produced.
8 First Petrol-Powered Car
Armand Peugeot didn’t stay too long producing steam-powered vehicles, abandoning it for a gasoline-powered version just a year later. Called the Peugeot Type 2, the vehicle wasn’t only Peugeot’s first gasoline-powered vehicle, but it was also its first four-wheeled vehicle.
The Peugeot Type 2 is powered by a Daimler gasoline engine, which was assembled by Panhard. Fitted underneath the seat, the engine is a two-cylinder four-stroke V-format plant with an output of 2 horsepower and a top speed of 11 mph.
7 First Mass-Produced Car
Peugeot launched its iconic numbering system consisting of three digits with a zero in the middle in 1929. Also, the numbering system coincided with its first mass-produced automobile, the 201. Unveiled at the 1929 Paris Motor Show, the 201 was primarily a 4-door saloon, and it was the cheapest car on the French market as of then.
Its 1122 cc L-head cylinder engine churns out 23 horsepower and could get to a top speed of 50 mph. The car was a resounding success.
6 First EV
There was a great fuel shortage in France during the Second World War’s German occupation of the country. Hence, in 1942, to ameliorate the effect, Peugeot built its first electric car. Peugeot called the electric microcar the VLV, meaning Voiture Légère de Ville (Light City Car).
Powering the iconic EV are four 12V batteries arranged under the car’s hood, propelling it to a top speed of 22 mph and a maximum range of 50 miles. However, the car was banned after Peugeot had built 377 units.
5 504 – Africa’s Workhorse
The 504 was so good in its time, it won the European Car of the Year award in 1969. Launched in 1968, the 504 is a mid-size, front-engine, rear-wheel-drive vehicle that was produced in different body styles which include a sedan, station wagon, coupe, convertible, and pickup.
Also, for quite some time, the 504 was among the Peugeot models offered in the United States, with the 1974 US-spec carbureted 2-liter engine churning out 82 horsepower at 5200 rpm. Notably, the car was extremely popular in Africa.
4 Iconic 405
The 405 was launched by Peugeot in 1987. A family car produced as a 4-door saloon, 5-door estate, and 6-door limousine, with the production of the European version lasting till 1997. Notably, the 405 earned Peugeot its second European Car of the Year award in 1988 after a voting process that resulted in the largest number of votes for a winner in the history of the contest.
More than 2.5 million units of the car have been sold worldwide and have received a plethora of upgrades and facelifts, the 405 is still being produced under license outside France.
3 Motorsports Participation
Based on events from the inception of cars and even in the recent past, Peugeot has greatly influenced motorsport. Notably, the French automotive company, being among the pioneers of motor racing, won the 1894 Paris-Rouen Trials, which is considered as the world’s first motor race, with a 3 horsepower Peugeot.
Subsequently, in 1912, a Peugeot car driven by Georges Boillot won the French Grand Prix at Dieppe. Peugeot cars have also been successful at rallying, touring car races, and sports car racing among others.
2 Takeovers
Developing more radical new models than its financial strength could handle, French automotive brand, Citroën, ran into deep financial troubles in the early 1970s. To avoid huge job losses, the French government arranged for talks and a subsequent merge of Citroën with Peugeot in 1974. Months later, in December 1974, Peugeot bought a 38.2% share of Citroën.
It was later increased to an 89.95% stake, becoming PSA Peugeot Citroën in the process. Also, in 1978, PSA bought Chrysler Europe for a nominal fee of $1, taking liability for its huge debt, factories, and products.
1 The Iconic Sochaux Plant
Opened in 1912, the Peugeot’s Sochaux plant has remained one of the major car plants in France. It is located in the department of Doubs, the eastern extremity of the Franche-Comté. While Peugeot automotive production was carried out on four sites in France, the company however upgraded the Sochaux facilities and production plant in 1929, leading it to concentrate all its auto-production in Sochaux.
In effect, Sochaux became the largest industrial site in the whole of France. Notably, for its continued activity, it is considered the oldest manufacturing plant still active today.