Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroen,the second largest carmaker based in Europe.
The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion trademark. The company produced its first automobile in 1891. Due to family discord, Armand Peugeot in 1896 founded the Society des Automobiles Peugeot.
Peugeot's roots go back to 19th-century coffee mill and bicycle manufacturing. The Peugeot company and family is originally from Sochaux, France. Peugeot retains a large manufacturing plant and Peugeot Museum there. It also sponsors the Sochaux football club, founded in 1928 by a member of the Peugeot family.
1896 saw the first Peugeot engines built; no longer were they reliant on Daimler. Designed by Rigoulot, the first engine was an 8 hp (6.0 kW) horizontal twin fitted to the back of the Type 15.[11] It also served as the basis of a nearly exact copy produced by Rochet-Schneider.[11] Further improvements followed: the engine moved to the front on the Type 48 and was soon under a hood (bonnet) at the front of the car, instead of hidden underneath; the steering wheel was adopted on the Type 36; and they began to look more like the modern car.
The company began selling cars in the United States in 1958, and in 1960 introduced the Peugeot 404, which used a 1,618 cc (99 cu in) version of the 403 engine, tilted 45o. The 404 proved rugged enough to win the East African Safari Rally, in four of the six years between 1963 and 1968.
In 1974 Peugeot bought a 30% share of Citroen,and took it over completely in 1975.
The group then took over the European division of Chrysler (which were formerly Rootes and Simca), in 1978 as the American auto manufacturer struggled to survive.
In 1983 Peugeot launched the popular and successful Peugeot 205, which is largely credited for turning the company's fortunes around.
Peugeot is now actively pursuing new markets, namely in China, Russia and South America.
In 1983 the Datsun name was dropped and the name Peugeot became the new marketing tool. Now a very well known brand for producing all types of vehicles, Peugeot continue to exceed their consumers expectations.