Peugeot

Peugeot (US /puːˈʒoʊ/; UK /ˈpɜːrʒoʊ/; French pronunciation: ​[pøʒo]) is a French car manufacturer, part of Groupe PSA.

The family business that preceded the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810,^[9] 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 Leon Serpollet in 1889; this was followed in 1890 by an internal combustion car with a Panhard-Daimler engine.^[10] Due to family discord, Armand Peugeot in 1896 founded the Société des Automobiles Peugeot.

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, 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 four 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.^[14] Peugeot is known as a very reliable brand, citing how its 1950s and 1960s models are still running in Africa and Cuba in the 2010s, where Peugeot is called "the lion".^[15]

Peugeot has been involved in motor sport for more than a century. Peugeot Sport won the World Rally Championship five times, the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup twice (2010, 2011), surpassing Toyota and Audi, the World Endurance Championship twice (1992, 1993), and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge Championship three times. During the last year, Peugeot Sport has surpassed the record set in the ascent to Pikes Peak with the Peugeot 208 T16 driven by Sébastien Loeb, and got a triple victory of the Peugeot 208 GTi in its class at the 24 Hours Nürburgring race.^[17] In 2015, Peugeot returned to the Dakar Rally after its four victories in the 1980s.