The History of Peugeot

The Peugeot Frères company was known throughout the 19th century as a manufacturer of various household goods, tools and bicycles. It built its first self-propelled carriage in 1889, and seven years later Armand Peugeot decided to separate from the family enterprise and produce cars at its own plant. At the beginning of the XX century Peugeot became the largest firm in the industry, and its cars became famous throughout the world for racing victories. In the period between the world wars, the brand faced stiff competition, but the aerodynamic style models introduced in 1935-1938 helped it to survive the economic crisis and the difficult postwar years. The revival began with the small car Peugeot 203 (1948-1960) followed by more serious cars with the indices 403 (1955-1966) and 404 (1960-1975), available with diesel engines.

Peugeot never chased fashion and did not invent anything new. Its cars were conservative, practical and extremely reliable. The 404, 504, 405 and 505 models became widespread not only in Europe, but also in regions with poor road surfaces. Many of them are still used as cabs or 'workhorses' in poor countries of Africa and South America. Peugeot cars have won European Car of the Year five times: in 1969 (Peugeot 504), 1988 (Peugeot 405), 2002 (Peugeot 307), 2014 (Peugeot 308) and 2017 (Peugeot 3008). The Peugeot 205 and Peugeot 206 hatchbacks are famous for their wins in the World Rally Championship (1985, 1986, 2000, 2001 and 2002), and the Peugeot 905 and Peugeot 908 racing prototypes were leading in the Endurance Racing Championship (1992, 1993) and in the 24 Hours of Le Mans (1992, 1993, 2009).

In 1975, Peugeot merged with Citroen to form the PSA group, in which the two brands have equal status. In 1978, it absorbed and disbanded the subsidiary Chrysler Europe, in 1992 it formed a joint venture with the Chinese company Dongfeng. Facing financial problems after the 2008-2009 recession, PSA was rescued by the French government and the Dongfeng Motor Group holding company. In 2017, the group joined the Opel and Vauxhall divisions, formerly owned by GM, as well as the Indian firm Hindustan. Today, PSA is the third-largest automaker in Europe, producing more than 3 million cars a year. Its plants are located in France, Spain, Italy, Slovakia, Russia, China, Indonesia, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Nigeria, Brazil, Argentina and other countries. Peugeot products have not been represented in the North American market since 1991. Do not forget to use Peugeot VIN decoder in order to avoid potential problems when buying a used car.