Originally, the company Peugeot was a family business founded in 1810, marketing very diversified products, but all based on steel: tools, springs, umbrella whalebones, corsets frames, coffee grinders, timepieces, bicycles... Table mills are still marketed today by the company PSP Peugeot.
In 1896, Armand Peugeot became more interested in the automobile, and created "Automobiles Peugeot SA". At the same time, Armand's nephews, Pierre, Robert and Jules, created in 1897 "Les fils de Peugeot frères" , specializing in cycles. In order to avoid competition, the two companies merged in 1910 under the name "Automobiles and cycles Peugeot SA". Thanks to the success of the Peugeot 201 and a strong production force, the company became, in 1939, the second largest French manufacturer with a 25% market share.
After the German occupation where the factories were requisitioned, the first major success came with the launch of the 203, which will be produced in more than half a million copies, followed by the 403 which will be made famous by Inspector Columbo !
Its merger in 1976 with Citroën will enable Peugeot to boost its offer and become the "PSA Peugeot Citroën" group. In 2016, PSA Peugeot Citroën became the "PSA Group" and includes the following brands: Peugeot, Citroën, DS Automobile, as well as Opel and Vauxhall (acquisition of General Motors' European division in March 2017).
Present in nearly 160 countries, Peugeot is the only brand in the world to offer a complete mobility offer (cars, scooters, bicycles) and a wide range of services, with the ambition of being the top-of-the-range generalist brand with a global vocation.
The PSA group has always had a strategy of competition between its brands. Indeed, the two brands (Peugeot and Citroën) offered two different offers in the same segment and considered that there were more gains in market share than in cannibalization. Plants were pooled so that production would be staggered between launches so that a Peugeot vehicle could enter its second life cycle when Citroën enters the market, for example.
This has led to a hyper-segmentation of the market and a globalisation of the group, and has led to the emergence of minivans, crossovers and a premium range. It was necessary to adapt to the different markets and the range became more and more complex, which caused competition between the two brands.
Therefore, the group's "Back in the race" strategy was implemented in 2015 for the various brands:
- Peugeot: moving up the range to compete with Volkswagen
- Citroën: offering models at reasonable prices
- DS: representing the top of the range of the group
All this while marketing a limited number of models on a global scale. Peugeot has therefore succeeded in repositioning itself in line with market constraints.
Aware of the challenges of tomorrow's automotive industry, a new "Push to Pass" strategy, covering the 2016-2020 period, has been launched and is based on 3 levers:
- The digital transformation of the group
- The internal performance culture
- Corporate social responsibility
Committed to a socially responsible approach, the PSA Group aims to become a major European player in electrified mobility by capitalizing on plug-in electric and hybrid vehicles. By 2025, the PSA Group's 5 brands will offer 100% zero-emission electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles emitting less than 49g CO2/km.
For PSA, the challenge of hybridization was first of all industrial, by integrating this technology without burdening the initial industrial process. "Compared to the petrol or diesel version of the same vehicle, there are 7 to 8% different parts and about 300 kilos more. We make sure that this does not change anything on the lines for operators. The only visible difference is the charging process," explains Olivier Salver, in charge of the manufacturer's Plug in hybrid (PHEV) program.
Between its E-Legend electric bicycle, its new e-208, its e-2008 SUV, its e-Ludix scooter and its 45,000 solar panels (which will cover 10,000 cars in its shipping car park at the Sochaux plant in France); PSA is pursuing its electrification strategy with its 100% electric compact van range in 2020. Since 2019, all new vehicle models have systematically been equipped with a hybrid or fully electric version. And by 2021, 14 new electrified vehicles will be launched.
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