Merciel S.A

*Created by: DoriftoDorito*

Nohda Motor Company (37%)

**International**

Merciel España

Merciel Brazil

Merciel Venezula

Merciel Sahra

Merciel Nanjing

Mericel Russia

**Groupe Merciel**(French:[ɡʁup mɛʁsjɛl]) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1912. The company produces a wide variety of cars and SUVs, and in the past has manufactured vans, trucks and tractors.

As of 2016, Merciel produced almost 3 million cars globally with roughly 500,000 being produced in France alone.

Headquartered in Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, one of the eastern communes in Paris, the Merciel Group is currently made up of Merciel marque, the namesake of the group and subsidiaries, Montreuil and Adagio S.p.A from Italy. Merciel also has many other joint ventures, such as Merciel-Sahra (Turkey) and as of 1996 is partnered with Nohda of Japan with a 37% stake in the company.

Merciel is also famous for its involvement in motorsport, particularly the European Touring Car Championship and the World Rally Championship, where the team did well. Merciel also formerly competed in GT racing, however, following the death of one of their drivers at LeMans in 2006, Merciel withdrew from the competition indefinitely.

## History

### **Early Years (1912-1918)**

The Merciel Corporation was founded in 1912 as *Société Merciel* by French entrepreneur Marcel Bourdet. While Marcel was an accomplished businessman, he was no engineer, so he had all the design and production work handled by his nephew, the brilliant young engineer, Fabrice Benett. Their first car, the Modèle 1911, was made in a small workshop Bourdet owned in the outskirts of Paris and was sold to Bourdet's uncle on the 1st October 1911.

Merciel would continue to produce a limited number of luxury automobiles until November 1914 when the French Government seized Marcel's factory to produce tractors for the war effort During this period, the factory received many improvements such as a new steel press and forge. The factory was also connected to the electrical grid in 1918.

After the war, the factory was returned to Merciel. By then, the company was fully owned by Benett, after Marcel died due to cholera earlier in the year. It would be Benett who would change the company ethos to manufacturing cars for the people.

### **Interwar Years (1919-1938)**

After the war, Merciel began to expand production rapidly. With Benett in control, Merciel began mass producing cars. Inspired by the Lansing Model F, Benett designed his the Merciel Modèle de Famille 1920. Borrowing heavily on the Model F's design, the Famille 1920 was designed to be affordable and easy to run. By stamping most of the parts from sheet steel, the production cost dropped dramatically. This made it a big success with at least 1,000 MF-1920s being sold from 1922-1923.

By 1926, Merciel had become one of the largest automobile manufacturers in France.

By the 1930s, Merciel was hit heavily by the Great Depression. While they managed to get by due to the sales of tractors and heavy equipment manufactured by Merciel's subsidiary, Montreuil. Benett was forced to lay off over 3,000 workers, almost half of the workforce, which caused further unrest in the company and several strikes. To make matters worse, the socialist movement was growing in France, leading to violent clashes between workers and the police outside the Merciel factory. One such strike ended with one of the warehouses to be completely razed, destroying at least 100,000 francs worth of equipment.

### **WWII and aftermath (1939-1945)**

During the German invasion of France, the Merciel and Montreuil factories were taken over by the Germans. Faced with an ultimatum to produce vehicles for the Germans or have the factories torn down, Benett reluctantly agreed to begin production of armoured vehicles and tanks in the Merciel and Montreuil factories. This made the Merciel and Montreuil factories a prime target for the SOE, the RAF and eventually the USAF. Throughout the war, the Merciel main factory was bombed 50 times by the SOE and 30 times by the RAF and USAF, causing major damage to the main production floor.

After the liberation of France, Benett was hailed a traitor. Though he had often let resistance forces sabotage the production lines, Benett had also accepted the German money and was suspected to have collaborated with them. Thus alongside many other French auto-industry leaders, Benett was incarcerated Fresnes Prison. There he would commit suicide on 10th October 1944. The provisional government would then requisition parts of Merciel's factories.