PSA Peugeot Citroën SA

▪ French automotive company

      major French automotive manufacturer and holding company, incorporated in France in 1896 as Société Anonyme des Automobiles Peugeot. The company merged with another large French automobile producer, Citroën SA, in 1976, the combination assuming the current name. Headquarters are in Paris.

      Peugeot was founded in 1890 by Armand Peugeot (1849–1915), one of a large family of industrialists and engineers. The first Peugeot automobile had been designed in a family-owned shop set up in 1885 to build velocipedes and quadricycles.

      In 1914 Citroën's (Citroën) founder, André Citroën (Citroën, André-Gustave), formed his own company to produce munitions during World War I. The company proved so successful that by the end of the war Citroën was able to buy out the Mors Company, an automobile manufacturer for which André Citroën had previously served as president. In the 1920s the company, which was established as Citroën SA in 1924, emerged as a major producer of low-priced, mass-produced cars. By 1933 it had built 90 percent of the taxicabs operating in Paris.

      During the Great Depression, Citroën SA fell into financial trouble and was sold to the Michelin company in 1936. During the 1960s Citroën was merged with several other automakers. In 1975, to avert another potential bankruptcy, the French government funded Citroën's sale to a group that included Peugeot, which increased its holdings in the company the following year.

      In 1978–79 Peugeot acquired the European car- and truck-making units and related finance operations of Chrysler Corporation of the United States, changing the names of these Peugeot subsidiaries to Talbot. In addition to manufacturing cars and trucks, Peugeot is a major producer of bicycles and motorcycles. The holding company owns and operates bank and finance companies throughout Europe.

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