Peugeot Celebrates 200 Years by Planning Big

SYDNEY – January 11, 2010: It is 200 years since Jean-Pierre and Jean-Frédéric Peugeot turned their father’s cereal mill into a steel foundry and took the Peugeot family into the industrial era.

Since 1810, Peugeot has associated its name, and later its Lion emblem, to saws, tools, steel crinoline stays, coffee grinders, bicycles, motorcycles, scooters and cars.

To each of these worlds Peugeot has brought passion and innovation, while laying emphasis on its industrial origins based in particular on strong principles and the working of steel.

Backed by 200 years of inspiration, Peugeot in 2010 is renewing its stylistic and visual identity, and affirming its international ambition.

This new chapter in the Peugeot story is about to open with a further evolution of the brand including a new styling direction, a new corporate Lion badge and a new signature; Peugeot, MOTION & EMOTION.

Peugeot’s new Marque plan includes the goal of moving up three places from its current position of tenth in the world car market by 2015.

In order to achieve this goal, Peugeot is relying on a new product strategy, new style lines, new technology and a new visual identity.

This refreshed visual identity includes a new corporate Lion logo which will adorn new Peugeot vehicles beginning with the forthcoming RCZ sports coupé.

To demonstrate the Peugeot Style of tomorrow, the company has unveiled the stunning SR1 concept, embodying the strongest, the most extreme and the most pure expression of this concept.

It exhibits the main stylistic codes of forthcoming Peugeot models, and reinterpreting the historic codes of the Marque: speed, harmony, “felineness” and dynamism.

Athletic, balanced, sensuous, with an exclusive and hi-tech interior, this "dream car" explores and reinterprets the theme of a "Grand Touring Roadster".

A Peugeot is a vehicle with a very attractive style which combines both driving enjoyment and environmental protection – a Peugeot will never be purely functional; it awakens emotion and invites movement.

Peugeot will continue to place special emphasis on a number of principles that it has long placed great importance on.

For example, to reduce its ecological footprint and dependency on fossil fuels, the Marque has invested, and will continue to invest, in a number of different technologies to meet the needs of future mobility without sacrificing driving enjoyment.

Today, Peugeot continues to improve engine efficiency with a downsizing strategy for its petrol and HDi FAP diesel engines.

As part of Peugeot’s plan to move up the order in the world car market, the company is planning a product offensive in coming years, resulting in a remarkable 14 new models being launched globally between 2010 and 2012.

The Marque’s stream of new products will begin in Australia with the launch of the 3008 (second quarter of 2010) and RCZ (third quarter of 2010).

One key announcement as part of the future Peugeot product strategy includes the company confirming that it intends to further push back the frontiers of the motor industry by designing a vehicle that will embody all of the spirit of the BB1 concept car recently shown at the Frankurt Motor Show: 2.5 metres, four seats and 100 per cent electric.

With its revolutionary architecture, a tubular chassis produced with Peugeot Scooters, the BB1 concept allows four passengers to be seated in a vehicle with a length of 2.5m.

It offers excellent packaging, performance and handling. 100 per cent electric, it emits zero CO2 per kilometre thanks to a particularly innovative mode of propulsion: rear-wheel mounted electric motors co-designed with Michelin.