Starting signal for the brand Peugeot in Germany the rental of a workshop was on November 5, 1936 by the "Kraftwagen Handelsgesellschaft Kochte & Rech" in Saarbrücken. The small company was the first German Peugeot importer, initially for the small 201 and the streamlined model series 302 and 402. "Rocket design from Sochaux" was what the press called the innovators. Above all, the mid-range 402 series made history with the coupé-convertible “Eclipse” as a star at the Berlin IAA and with economical diesel versions. Around 1939 copies of the Peugeot 1.000 Diesel had been sold by 402. The small car 201, however, was less popular with Germans due to its high price.
With another Mini, Peugeot tested the series production of electric cars as early as 1941. The City Cabriolet celebrated its premiere under the name VLV in World War II and, despite the dark times, almost 400 units of the "Stromer" were delivered, including to Germany. After the war, Peugeot achieved greater success with the prewar 202 model. The 1948 mid-range sedan followed in 203, which became a bestseller thanks to its legendary longevity. In 1955, the Pininfarina work of art 403 followed, another successful type, which even the Saarland police and taxi drivers were taken aback. From 1960 the 404 continued this success. With an increasingly broad model range of cars and commercial vehicles, Peugeot grew under Kochte & Rech in Germany to become the third largest import brand.
1967 was followed by the establishment of the Group's own import company Peugeot Automobile Deutschland GmbH, which sold 20.733 vehicles in the first year. The new compact class 204 with front-wheel drive and the 204 Break Diesel with the then smallest diesel in the world caused a sensation. 1968 was followed by the ultimate Peugeot in the form of the spacious, reliable and timelessly elegant 504, which also impressed as a convertible.
It was on this solid foundation that the lion reached for the stars in the 1970s. After the merger with Citroen (1976) and the takeover of Simca (1978), the family company Peugeot rose to become the largest automobile manufacturer in Europe. The climb was crowned with the representative 604, which also impressed with the first French post-war V6.
However, the takeover of the Malada brand Simca became a financial fiasco from which Peugeot managed to find a way out thanks to creative model politics. The city car 1983 presented in 205, which sold 5,3 million copies, made history. His successor 1998 was even more successful from 206. For five years it remained the best-selling small import car on the German market - also thanks to the 206 CC, which caused a sensation as the world's first compact coupé convertible.
At the beginning of the new millennium, Peugeot was one of the strongest import brands with a model range that covered every niche, but was also too bloated at times. In the meantime, four models in the small car segment competed with one another, 107, 1007, 206 and 207. In the meantime, the streamlined range is geared entirely towards reducing consumption and emissions. While the expensive diesel hybrid drive and the small electric car won only a few buyers, Peugeot scores even more impressively with downsizing petrol engines and new diesels that impress with "best in class" fuel consumption.
(Tungsten nickel / SP-X)