By European and, particularly, by Gallic, standards, Peugeot was for most of the 20th century a fairly conservative company. For decades, the French firm stuck to rear-wheel drive and to the tried and true proportions espoused by designs it bought from Pininfarina. This did not, however, limit Peugeot's success when it, finally, switched to wholesale front-wheel drive in the mid-80s. In all but the near-luxury segment, Peugeot cars maintained their reputation for a sense of optimum balance between ride and handling, long a cornerstone of the brand.

Less successful have been the 605 and 607, executive sedans which never quite captured the imagination as had the rear-wheel drive 604.


In 1895, Peugeot became the first manufacturer to fit rubber tires to a gasoline-powered car.

As BBC Top Gear presenter James May surmised in 1999, "someone at Peugeot has a really deep understanding of what makes a car good to drive." That's a quiet attribute, to be sure; but one that loyalists appreciate.

When in 1987 Peugeot finally adopted front-wheel drive across its range, those loyalists might well have worried for the company's sense of balance. They need not have. In a 1991 U.S. ad for the 405, Peugeot mused, "a glance will probably note the leather seats, but miss the two densities of foam used to eliminate seat springs which transmit road vibration." In a hotter version, the Mi16, patented eight-valve shock absorbers resisted both body roll and wheel liftoff. Today, as then, Peugeot remains the only automaker to design and build its own shock absorbers.

Though adopted front-wheel drive rather later than compatriot Renault (a FWD pioneer), Peugeot surprised its customers and hot hatch enthusiasts with, in the 1980s, two of the most enjoyable pocket rockets ever built: the 205 GTi and 309 GTi. The 205, in particular, was a blindingly fast little number, willing and eager to throw its driver into the nearest hedge, courtesy left-off oversteer that, Peugeot later admitted, was probably a tad too overenthusiastic.

Peugeot's front-wheel drive prowess continued with the 306 GTI-6 hot hatch of the '90s, while the 405 and 406 sedans provided more traditional Peugeot buyers with a superlative ride/ handling compromise.

Truth be told, recent Peugeots have felt a little heavy and stodgy; but as Peugeot celebrated its bicentenary in 2010, it launched a rebranding exercise to put more daylight between itself and its Citroen sister. We expect future Peugeots to rediscover their dynamic zest to Citroen's comfort bias.


Today, Peugeot sees its four core values as aesthetics, dynamism, proven value, and innovation. The company's slogan is, "Engineered to be Enjoyed."

A controversial design language exaggerates the modern Peugeot's grille and lion badge, occasionally to an alarming degree, but the look certainly gets attention, and has proven particularly popular with women.


A new design language is on the way, as previewed by the 2008 RC concept, the first project supervised by new design director Jerome Gallix. Unveiled at the Paris Auto Show, the RC concept introduces a new face for the Peugeot range. In its smaller "shield" grille, and in its surfacing, it is expected to influence the look of the midsize, 2011 508, the replacement for the 407 range. The RC also showcases a new gasoline/ electric hybrid drivetrain, using lithium-ion batteries and claiming to offer 313 brake horsepower with CO2 emissions of just 109 g/km. Like the Chevrolet Volt, the RC concept promises the ability to run solely off electric power for extended periods.


Peugeot is blessed with a patriotic home market, up to 90% of which chooses a domestically branded automobile. Labels meaningful in French culture regularly grace special edition Peugeots. A yellow 207 CC Roland Garros, roughly the 100,000th Peugeot to wear the name, took pride of place at the 2007 Paris Open, next to the slogan, the car is a ball.

The French were once famous for lopping heads off and, in more recent years, Peugeot's CC range has played a key role in popularizing hardtop convertibles.


Peugeot launches its 207 CC hardtop with a print campaign touting the car's connection to the 402 BL �clipse D�capotable of the 1934; the first car to feature a folding hardtop, and thus the first ever coup�/ cabrio.

Certainly, the company was a pioneer in this field. In modern times, Peugeot through 2009 had built more than 650,000 coup�-cabriolets. This, despite that the original 206 CC almost did not happen at all, because the company was concerned that this complicated, relatively high-cost, small car would not sell enough copies to turn a profit.

Peugeot took the risk. Although the original 206 CC and 307 CC were far from flawless (suffering patchy roof reliability, floppy bodies, and compromised packaging), they were a dash of color in the market; enough to make Peugeot by far the most successful manufacturer of the breed, with a quarter of the European market.


In 2007, the new 207 brings with it the end of the Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Coventry plant. The car's 206 predecessor had been built at the U.K. facility (itself once a Rootes Group factory). In the meantime, Peugeot had quietly earmarked non-French 207 production for Slovakia, and would eventually move 206 production to Poissy. Unions representing workers at the Ryton plant chose the 207's June 8th, 2006 U.K. launch date to begin their campaign calling for the boycott of PSA/ Peugeot-Citro�n vehicles.


As Peugeot entered the 1970s, it was producing more than half a million cars in its native France. Yet sales in the American market - the world's largest, at the time - wavered between just 2,000 and 4,000, annually.

A decade later, the 405 sedan, less controversially styled than the 504 and 505, and with the benefit of front-wheel drive, should have appealed to more Americans than it did. "It takes a special eye to appreciate it," Peugeot entices, its U:S. advertising tagline being, Beyond the obvious. Yet these cars have no V6 engine, a particular issue with wagon models. As a result, neither the 405 nor 505 wagon models endear themselves to American buyers. Despite its four straight Paris-Dakar victories, and two (straight) World Rally Championships, Peugeot pulls out of America in 1992.


Of all its modern motorsports efforts, Peugeot has seen most success in international rallying, most notably in the World Rally Championship with 4-wheel-drive, turbocharged versions of the Peugeot 205, and more recently the 206.

In 1984, at the wheel of the 205 Turbo 16, Ari Vatanen won 5 world rallies in a row, going on to take the championship in 1985 and 1986. From 1987 to 1990, Peugeot won the Dakar rally four times in a row: three times with Vatanen, and once with Juha Kankkunen.

In 1999, Peugeot returned to the World Rally Championship with the 206 WRC. The car was immediately competitive against such opposition as the Subaru Impreza WRC, Ford Focus WRC, and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. Marcus Gr�nholm won the 2000 Swedish rally, taking the manufacturers' title for the year, and the drivers' title in 2001. Peugeot dominated the 2002 season. However, with the introduction of the 307 WRC for the 2004 season, Peugeot seemed to slip. The company withdrew after 2005, although Citro�n would return for 2006.

In 1992 and 1993, a Peugeot 905 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Peugeot began providing engines to Formula One teams in 1994, serving McLaren, Jordan, and Prost over the years. However, it exited the sport at the end of the 2000 season, selling its F1 interests to Asiatech. Peugeot returned to sports car racing and Le Mans in 2007, with the diesel-powered 908. The company also competes in touring car racing.


Peugeot is part of PSA/ Peugeot-Citro�n, Europe's 2nd-largest automaker. On March 30th, 2009, the PSA/ Peugeot-Citro�n supervisory board removed CEO Christian Streiff from its position, replacing him (in June 2009) by Philippe Varin, the man credited with turning around the fortunes of Anglo-Dutch steel firm Corus over the past five years.

Despite the fact that Peugeot Citroen had recently announced a net loss of �343m (�320m), Streiff described the decision to remove him as "incomprehensible," saying that his recent record of cost-cutting, inventory reduction, and new product launches had been well received by the financial community.

Peugeot is among the world's oldest automotive names, with roots dating back to 19th century coffee mill and bicycle manufacturing. The first Peugeot automobile, a 3-wheeled, steam-powered car designed by L�on Serpollet, was produced in 1889. Just four were made before Peugeot switched to four wheels and internal combustion; first Daimler's, and by 1896, of its own design.

Peugeot added a motorcycle to its range in 1903, and motorcycles have been built under the Peugeot name ever since. The company has also remained a major producer of scooters, mopeds, and bicycles.

In 1934, Peugeot introduced the 402 BL �clipse D�capotable, the first convertible with a retractable hardtop. Ford's Skyliner followed the idea in the 1950s, and it was revived in more recent times by the 1995 Mitsubishi 3000GT Spyder.

Through the '30s, Peugeot was clearly inspired by the Chrysler Airflow, building cars with curvaceous bodies and headlights hidden behind sloping grille bars.

In 1974, Peugeot bought a 30% share of Citro�n, taking it over completely in 1975, with financial help from the French government. At the time, Citro�n controlled Maserati - and, by corollary, so did Peugeot - but the Italian brand was sold in May 1975.

Citro�n was in crisis, having overextended its resources on too many radical new models, including the Citro�n SM and rotary-engined Comotor GS versions. The new, joint parent company became PSA (Peugeot Soci�t� Anonyme) Group. It aimed to retain the Peugeot and Citro�n brands' separate identities, while pooling technical resources. This has been less than successful in some instances, but one cannot deny the Citro�n brand's sales success.

PSA took over the European division of Chrysler (formerly Rootes and Simca) in 1978. A new brand for the entity, Talbot (last seen on a '50s sports car), was created, then dropped in 1986 (1992, for commercial vehicles).

Between 1980 and 1985, PSA/ Peugeot-Citro�n lost a good deal of money. The 205 of 1983 is credited with having turned the company's fortunes around.

In 1984, PSA developed its first contacts with The People's Republic of China, resulting in the successful Dongfeng Peugeot-Citro�n Automobile venture in Wuhan.

Peugeot remains a long way off - roughly 50% - from its ambitious target of selling 4 million units annually by 2010. It wants to develop new models to compete in new segments; in particular, the sports car and luxury markets. The brand is also pursuing new markets, namely China; Russia, and South America.

The Peugeot company and family is originally from Sochaux, France. Today, Peugeot retains a large manufacturing plant (since 1928) and museum there. It also sponsors the Sochaux football club, founded in 1928 by a member of the Peugeot family.