Peugeot Repair and Service PDF Manuals
The French company Peugeot was founded in 1896. Thanks to the successful approach to building the first model, Peugeot was able to immediately find its buyer and began to produce up to 500 copies of its first car annually. In addition, in parallel with the production of cars, the company was engaged in the production of bicycles, which provided a good profit for subsequent investments in the creation of new car models.
In 1905, the second Peugeot BeBe model was introduced, which became the most popular car in the French car market from 1905 to 1910. And in 1913, another model was presented, called the Peugeot Goux and had a 7.6-liter power unit, the most powerful among those produced in France. Thanks to this model, the company was able to make itself known to the whole world, since it was on the Goux that the speed record was set on the Indianapolis track in the United States of America. However, after the outbreak of the First World War, the French brand switched to the production of military equipment and heavy trucks for the needs of the army and the government of the country.
In 1919, the first mass-produced car of the Peugeot company was presented - the Quadrilette model, equipped with a 0.6-liter engine. A year later, the Type 156 came out, equipped with a more powerful 25 horsepower power unit. In 1926, the Peugeot company was the first in France to start producing passenger cars equipped with a diesel engine. Three years later, the Peugeot 201 with independent suspension was introduced - the cheapest car on the French car market.
Another model was the world's first convertible with a retractable roof, created by Peugeot in 1934. This was followed by several models of compact cars with aerodynamically styled designs. A year later, the first French luxury car, the Peugeot 402, was introduced, which had a significant influence on the design of the post-war cars of many European automakers.
After the outbreak of World War II, all factories of the brand switched to the production of military equipment for the needs of the army of France and Belgium, the number of products included Peugeot armored cars, aircraft engines and even machine guns. However, the occupation seriously hit the well-being of the company, and the release of the first Peugeot electric car did not help either. Only 377 copies were sold, after which the country's government banned further sales.
Production of Peugeot cars resumed only in 1946, after the release of the compact family model 202, which was quickly replaced by the more advanced Peugeot 203 in 1949. Since 1955, the company begins cooperation with the Italian design studio "Pinifarina", the result of which is a completely new Peugeot 403. And since 1958, the French concern has entered the automotive market of the United States of America, offering its reliable and inexpensive cars with a huge discount, which in terms of 30% of the cost of models in the European automotive market.
In 1961, a new generation of the mid-size model 404 was presented, taking even more market share than the Peugeot 403. In 1963, a new prestigious model 504 coupe was presented, which was a joint creation with the same Pininfarina studio. Three years later, it was announced that it had entered into an agreement with one of its main competitors, the Renault concern, which became Peugeot's technological partner for 14 years. In the course of the collaboration, six-cylinder 2.7-liter power units were developed, installed on the most expensive models of both brands.
In 1972, a partnership with Volvo was announced, and just two years later, thanks to a generous subsidy from the French government, Peugeot acquired a controlling stake in another French brand, Citroën, which was mired in debt due to unnecessarily wasteful approach to creating new models. Thus, the management of "Peugeot" got at its disposal a popular brand, which had a number of patents and developments. In addition, the successful acquisition provided the company with a real racing team that was part of one of Citroen's subsidiaries - the Maserati brand. However, just six months later, in 1975, Maserati was sold, which allowed the new Peugeot-Citroen concern to avoid a crisis situation.
In 1978, the merged Peugeot-Citroen company buys out the European division of the American concern Chrysler, as it was on the verge of bankruptcy due to its inability to compete with European brands. However, from this acquisition, the concern suffered only serious losses, which led to the beginning of a long crisis and loss of profits in the period from 1980 to 1985.
In part, the situation was improved by expanding the brand's presence in China and the Middle East. Joint ventures were created with the Chinese concern Donfen and with the Iranian firm Iran Khodro. There were also presented commercial vehicles under the brands "Peugeot" and "Citroen", equipped with diesel power units of increased wear resistance.
Throughout the post-war history of the Peugeot-Citroen concern, his life has been inherently associated with motorsport. In 1981, the Peugeot factory team won the World Rally Championship. The co-driver of the champion crew, a young mechanic Jean Todt, who became the future head of the Ferrari racing team and the International Automobile Federation, at the request of the Peugeot management, began to create the brand's sports division. However, it ceased to exist in 1999, coming under the control of Citroen, which successfully took advantage of its extensive technical base and created the most successful rally team in history, winning 9 titles in a row with Sebastian Loeb.
By the beginning of the 21st century, the seventh generation of Peugeot cars was presented, and the first of them was the Peugeot 307. However, sales in the United States of America and Canada did not meet expectations, and in 2009 the French concern left the North American car market, focusing only on technical support of the cars of its new partner, the Japanese brand Mitsubishi. It was Japanese engineers who helped the French concern release its first four-wheel drive cars - the Peugeot 4007 and Citroen C-Crosser in 2008. Collaboration with Mitsubishi allowed for another modernization, so all-wheel drive platforms for full-size sedans were presented, as well as sports gearboxes with wide travel.
In 2010, a joint venture with Mitsubishi was founded to produce diesel power units designed to be installed on the entire current model range of Peugeot-Citroen. In addition, in 2012, the first electric car of the concern under the Citroen brand was presented, which was also developed jointly with the Japanese concern Mitsubishi. In 2013, the first vehicles of the company were presented with fully environmentally friendly diesel power units, which comply with the new Euro 5 environmental pollution standards, introduced from 2015 throughout the European Union.
