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Company history
Early historyAlthough the Peugeot factory had been in the manufacturing business for some time, their entry into the world of wheeled vehicles was by means of the bicycle. Armand Peugeot (1849-1915) (educated at the Ecole Centrale Paris) introduced the Peugeot "Le Grand Bi" penny-farthing in 1882 and a range of bicycles. Peugeot bicycles have been built until very recently, although the car company and bike company parted ways in 1926. Armand Peugeot became very interested in the automobile early on, and after meeting with Gottlieb Daimler and others was convinced of its viability. The first Peugeot automobile (a three-wheeled steam-powered car) was produced in 1889, in collaboration with Léon Serpollet. Steam power was heavy and bulky and required lengthy preparation before running, so it was soon abandoned in favour of the petrol-fueled internal combustion engine. 1890 saw the first such vehicle, powered by a Daimler engine and with four wheels. Further cars followed, twenty-nine being built in 1892. These early models were given Type numbers with the Type 12, for example, dating from 1895. Peugeot became the first manufacturer to fit rubber tires to a petrol-powered car that year (solid tires; pneumatic would follow in 1895). The vehicles were still very much horseless carriages in appearance and were steered by tiller. 1896 saw the first Peugeot engines built and fitted to the Type 14; no longer were they reliant on Daimler. 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. In 1897 Armand Peugeot broke away from the family firm of Les Fils Des Peugeot Frères and formed his own company, S.S. des Automobiles Peugeot and built a new factory at Audincourt. Peugeot added a motorcycle to its range in 1903, and motorcycles have been built under the Peugeot name ever since. By that year, Peugeot produced half of the cars built in France. 1916 and 1919 saw repeat wins at Indianapolis. During the first World War Peugeot turned largely to arms production, becoming a major manufacturer of arms and military vehicles, from bicycles to tanks and shells. Postwar, car production resumed in earnest; the car was becoming no longer just a plaything for the rich but accessible to many. 1926, however, saw the cycle (pedal and motor) business separate to form Cycles Peugeot -- the consistently profitable cycle division seeking to free itself from the rather more boom-and-bust auto business.
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