page_title: Peugeot
section_title: 1980s and 1990s
hierarchical_section_title: Peugeot / History / 1980s and 1990s
caption_attribution_description: English: 2003 Peugeot 406 HDi Coupe SE 2.2 Front Taken in Leamington Spa
context_page_description: Peugeot is a French automotive manufacturer, part of Groupe PSA.
  The family business that preceded the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810 in France, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applied for the lion trademark. Armand Peugeot built the company's first car, an unreliable steam tricycle, in collaboration with Léon Serpollet in 1889; this was followed in 1890 by an internal combustion car with a Panhard-Daimler engine. Due to family discord, Armand Peugeot founded the Société des Automobiles Peugeot, in 1896.
  The Peugeot company and family are originally from Sochaux, France. Peugeot retains a large manufacturing plant and Peugeot museum there. In February 2014, the shareholders agreed to a recapitalisation plan for Groupe PSA, in which Dongfeng Motors and the French government each bought a 14% stake in the company.
  Peugeot has received many international awards for its vehicles, including six European Car of the Year awards. In 2013 and 2014, Peugeot ranked the second lowest for average CO₂ emissions among generalist brands in Europe, the Renault car maker group being ranked first, with 114.9g CO₂/km.
context_section_description: In 1983, Peugeot launched the successful Peugeot 205 supermini, which is largely credited for turning the company's fortunes around. The 205 was regularly the bestselling car in France, and was also very popular in other parts of Europe, including Britain, where sales regularly topped 50,000 a year by the late 1980s. It won plaudits for its styling, ride and handling. It remained on sale in many markets until 1998, overlapping with the introduction of the 106 in 1991, and ceasing production at the launch of the 206, which also proved hugely popular across Europe.
  As part of the Guangzhou Peugeot Automobile Company (GPAC) joint venture, the Peugeot 504 and 505 were built in China from 1985 to 1997.
  By 1987, the company had dropped the Talbot brand for passenger cars when it ceased production of the Simca-based Horizon, Alpine, and Solara models, as well as the Talbot Samba supermini which was based on the Peugeot 104. What was to be called the Talbot Arizona became the Peugeot 309, with the former Rootes plant in Ryton and Simca plant in Poissy being turned over for Peugeot assembly. Producing Peugeots in Ryton was significant, as it signalled the first time Peugeots would be built in Britain. The 309 was the first Peugeot-badged hatchback of its size, and sold well across Europe. The 309's successor, the 306, was also built at Ryton.
  The 405 saloon was launched in 1987 to compete with the likes of the Ford Sierra, and was voted European Car of the Year. This, too, was a very popular car across Europe, and continued to be available in Africa and Asia after it was replaced by the 406 nearly a decade later. Production of the 405 in Europe was divided between Britain and France, although its 406 successor was only produced in France. The 106, Peugeot's entry-level model from 1991, was also produced solely in France.
  The Talbot name survived for a little longer on commercial vehicles until 1992 before being shelved completely. As experienced by other European volume car makers, Peugeot's United States and Canadian sales faltered and finally became uneconomical, as the Peugeot 505 design aged. For a time, distribution in the Canadian market was handled by Chrysler. Several ideas to turn around sales in the United States, such as including the Peugeot 205 in its lineup, were considered but not pursued. In the early 1990s, the newly introduced 405 proved uncompetitive with domestic and import models in the same market segment, and sold less than 1,000 units. Total sales fell to 4,261 units in 1990 and 2,240 through July 1991, which caused the company to cease its U.S. and Canada operations after 33 years.
  In 1997, just six years after pulling out of both United States and Canadian markets, Peugeot returned to Mexico after a 36-year absence, under the Chile–Mexico Free Trade Agreement. However Peugeot models (1992–present) cannot be bought or imported into the United States from Mexico.
caption: Peugeot 406 Coupé
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