Peugeot is a major
French car manufacturer, whose roots go back to
bicycle manufacturing at the end of the
19th century. Peugeot is also the largest bicycle manufacturer in France
 |
| 1906 Peugeot |
needs to be written
In 1974 Peugeot bought a 30% share of Citroën, and took it over completely in 1976.
The company has had much success in international
rallying, notably with the durable
Peugeot 504[?], highly developed four-wheel-drive turbo-charged versions of the
Peugeot 205[?], and more recently the
Peugeot 206[?]. Peugeot won the gruelling
Paris Dakar Rally each year from
1987 to
1990.
In the 1990s the company raced at the Le Mans 24 Hours race, winning in 1992 and 1993.
The company has also been involved in providing engines to various Formula One teams.
Peugeot names the models of their cars in the
x0y format;
x describes the size of the car (and hence its class), whereas
y describes the model number (the higher the number, the newer the model). Therefore, a Peugeot 406 is bigger
and newer than a Peugeot 305. This general rule has its exceptions, for instance with y=9, which has been created before y=5.
This tradition began in 1929 with the launch the 201. All numbers from 101 to 909 have been deposited as trademarks. Although in 1963 Porsche was forced to change the name of its new 901 coupé to 911, certain Ferraris and Bristols have been allowed to keep their Peugeot-style model numbers. An unsubstantiated explanation for the central '0' is that on early models the number appeared on a plate on the front of the car, with the hole for the starting handle coinciding with the zero.
See also: List of French companies
International Peugeot website:
http://www.peugeot.com
History of the company:
