About Peugeot Cars
Armand Peugeot of the Peugeot family introduced the penny-farthing "Le Grand Bi" in 1882, along with other bicycles. Peugeot then continued to build bicycles until fairly recently. The first Peugeot car was a three-wheeled steam-powered car that was designed by Léon Serpollet, but only four were made.
1892 saw the production of twenty-nine cars and in 1894 forty cars were made until finally in 1899 three hundred cars were made. Peugeot was also the first car manufacturer to use rubber tyres in their petrol-powered cars. Peugeot was heavily involved within the motor racing world and Albert Lemaître won the world's first motor race in 1894 at the Paris-Rouen race driving a 3 hp Peugeot. Five Peugeot cars raced and all finished. The first Peugeot engine was built in 1896 and was designed by Rigoulot, and was added to the Type 15 model. In 1896 Armand Peugeot left Les Fils de Peugeot Frères and formed his own company, Société Anonyme des Automobiles Peugeot, within a new factory at Audincourt, where he built only cars. In 1899, 1200 cars were sold.
Peugeot started to produce motorcycles in 1903 and they have been built under the Peugeot name ever since. Peugeot became extremely popular in France and by 1903 accounted for half of all car sales. In 1907 Tony Huber joined as engine builder and in 1928 a new factory opened in Sochaux that was to become their main plant. Ettore Bugatti designed the 850 cc four-cylinder Bébé in 1912 and that same year, Peugeot decided to return to the racing world with three driver-engineers. In 1913 they competed in the French Grand Prix with an improved L5 engine and won the event.
During the First World War, Peugeot stopped car manufacturing and made instead arms production and military vehicles. During the 1920s, Peugeot took over the Bellanger and De Dion companies and introduced the Type 183 model.
In 1929 they introduced the Peugeot 201 which was the cheapest car at that time on the French market and survived the Great Depression. In 1933 they unveiled a new range, the 402 BL Éclipse Décapotable, which was the first convertible car with a retractable hardtop and hen later followed by the Ford Skyliner in the 1950s. In the 1930s they introduced the Peugeot 202, Peugeot 302 and the Peugeot 402 that were inspired by the Chrysler Airflow. The 2.1-litre 402 started production in 1935. The Peugeot 202 was built from 1938 to 1942 and this increased Peugeot's sales to 52,796 cars and put them just behind Citroën.
In 1975 Peugeot took over Citroën and became the PSA (Peugeot Société Anonyme) group. The group then took over the European end of Chrysler. In 1983 Peugeot launched their successful Peugeot 205 which was extremely profitable for the company.
In 2007 PSA Peugeot Citroën closed its factory in Coventry, England resulting in 2,300 job losses; the last car produced there was the Peugeot 206. In 2011 Peugeot re-entered the Indian market after a break of 14 years and opened a new factory in Sanand, Gujarat, India. They also re-entered the Philippine market in 2012. March 2012 saw General Motors purchasing a 7% share in Peugeot and in October 2013, Peugeot closed their plant at Aulnay-sous-Bois in a money-saving exercise.
Today Peugeot is producing their new model ranges, the classic 200, 300, 400 and 600 series.