Leaving India: The Peugeot Story

Over the next few decades, the company soon diversified into producing coffee grinders, razors for hairdressers, sewing machines, roasting spits, clocks, garden furniture, bicycles, tricycles, and gramophones, through the company Les Fils de Peugeot Freres (LFdePF). In 1896, a new company, 'Automobiles Peugeot Company' (APC) was formed which began producing cars and trucks. By 1913, it was credited with having produced half the cars in France. The initial models of the company included Type 15, Bebe Peugeot and Peugeot Lion. In 1910, LFdePF and APC were merged to create Automobiles et Cycles Peugeot (ACP). In 1921, Peugeto acquired a carmaker De Dion Bouton. Five years later, ACP was separated into two companies, Cycles Peugeot and Societe des Automobiles Peugeot.

Peugeot took over the management of the combined organization and shared operations such as research, purchasing and investments. In 1976, Citroen was merged with Peugeot. By 2001, Peugeot Citroen was present in over 142 countries (Refer Exhibit I) and had diversified into an automotive equipment, transportation and finance businesses with sales of over 27,025 million euros. Peugeot's partner, PAL, was one of India's first automobile manufacturing companies, established in 1944 by the Walchand Hirachand family. The family owned many other businesses, including Hindustan Shipyard, Hindustan Aeronautics, Hindustan Construction, Rayalgaon Sugar and Walchandnagar Industries. In the early 1950s, PAL entered into a technical agreement with the Italian automobile major Fiat for manufacturing Fiat 500 in India...