Panhard revival? Peugeot considers Lexus-like premium brand
1930s Panhard Dynamic - look closely to see center-mounted steering wheel
According to industry mag Automotive News, the appearance of new French President Nicolas Sarkozy in a stretched Peugeot 607 has ignites speculation that PSA could revive the defunct Panhard marque as a premium/luxury automobile division that follows the Lexus formula of sharing components with existing PSA/Peugeot-Citroen products.
Panhard was sold to Auverland, a French military vehicle manufacturer, in 2005, and the brand is now used on said machinery. We assume that PSA would have to arrive at some agreement with that entity if it were ever to resurrect the name on passenger vehicles.
PSA, for its part, has no comment on the matter other than to say that a premium division is one of the many things under consideration by its new leadership. Our friends at Motor Authority question whether or not PSA has the technology and resources to make a luxury Panhard brand a success. They also point to Maybach as an example of how hard it is to revive an old marque, but we think Maybach's issues are more than a lack of initial name recognition. Those cars just don't look different enough than their Mercedes brethren. If the Exelero was ever built, it would be an instant sellout. But we digress.
PSA's future direction will be announced in September, at which point we'll presumably find out if a premium division -- Panhard or otherwise -- is planned.
[Source: Automotive News via Motor Authority]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Spots 4:00PM (6/16/2007)
I'd rather see Peugeot come back to the US Market....
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Alex Nunez 4:17PM (6/16/2007)
That's something that PSA supposedly has under consideration as well.
stefan 4:27PM (6/16/2007)
PSA is crap, people in the US should be happy because their not sold in the US.
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Jay Cannaday 4:39PM (6/16/2007)
I owned a Peugeot- an 89 405 DL 1.9/5 speed sedan. I loved that car- it was a VERY good running, riding and handling sedan. Yes, fit and finish were abysmal- worse even than GM's of the era- and the parts distribution network in the US was equally terrible.
However, Peugeot of North America and the servicing dealer both bent over backwards to make- and keep- me happy with my car- and I was. One would not get that sort of attention from ANY marque these days- least not any sold in the US, not even Lexus or Infiniti.
I would be first in line to buy another Peugeot, if they ever come back with something relatively affordable. Preferably a 1-series diesel 3 door hatch, but that's just my preference.
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MK 4:54PM (6/16/2007)
Peugeot's quality has improved remarkably over the years and their diesel cars are particularly good. They have also done a good job with Citroen.
That said, the talk about bringing the Panhard, Talbot, Simca or whatever other dead names they own sounds more than a little silly. If Peugeot want a couple of luxury brands going cheap, they just might talk to Ford about acquiring Jaguar and Land Rover. They did build and export cars from the UK in the past and probably still do. And they are the only major European car company that doesn't have a premium brand. Their diesel tech would also be a fantastic fit for the European model Land Rovers.
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stefan 5:41PM (6/16/2007)
#5
their quality has not improved at all, look at these charts http://www.autoweek.nl/tt2006.php?overzicht=11&cache=no
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Yago Bal 6:16PM (6/16/2007)
I don't see a single american car on that chart... Rest assured: they are reliable as hell for the US standards.
bathtub gin 10:06AM (6/17/2007)
"I don't see a single american car on that chart... Rest assured: they are reliable as hell for the US standards."
Which is why Peugeot, Citroen, Renault, et al were such runaway successes here? One reason the Japanese brands are so successful here is because American cars weren't reliable enough for U.S. standards.
Pep Boys Sux 6:07PM (6/16/2007)
stefan is right. Postwar French motor cars have not been known to display durability. They have always been known as fickle, often unattractive, products. Worse than 1980s GM cars? That's harsh! Maybach is the standard to take note of: a ultra-luxurious German brandname, resurrected with lots of money, and having no one wanting to buy from it. The market in the US for new luxury brands is tight.
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Chuck Savell 10:29PM (6/16/2007)
Center mounted steering wheel? The closer I look the more it is on the right hand side...
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Chris G. 6:05AM (6/17/2007)
Peugeot should concentrate on a successful return to the US and improving their quality. Right now, the only thing they have going for them is their amazing exterior and interior styling. I've also heard that the 407 has a steering wheel that's somewhat connected to the wheels, so case in point.
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Stuart 6:51AM (6/17/2007)
Being serious and realistic for a minute lets do some calculations:
America being biggest market but without peugeot presence will be a flop
UK Always prefer Mercs or BMERs even over Jaguar who is british so little if any chance there
Germans will always go for their own
French are even dropping the renault and PSA cars for the germans
Spain prefer the Germans
China like any car aslong as it a copy of a german/Japanese car but they can do a little there.
Canada prefer the germans and few domestics
Australia prefer the holdens, ford, mercs & BMW
Do this around the world and you see they don't actually have much to go on. They are better off buying Jaguar and building proper premium cars there.
P.s. Peugeot is one of the most unrealiable companies I have seen in my life. Nowonder they along with their partner (citreon) and guaranteed bottom three is almost every realiablity survey in the uk and probably abroad
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Alpha 10:49AM (6/17/2007)
@Stuart: You totally just pulled that out of your ass. In Canada I see more Buick, Cadillac's, Acura's, Lexus and Infinity's then I ever see any German premium brands and pretty much in that order. Audi/VW, BMW and Mercedes have a strong presence but nothing like from Japan. So without research id put the rest of your comments from other country's as suspect.
Stuart 11:02AM (6/18/2007)
Aplha are you really that stupid or is your head stuck that far up your ass. Which of the brands have you named apart from MB/BMW are actually premium? There are all luxury
cscheng90 9:45AM (6/25/2007)
First thing, would any English speaking person want to buy a car called Panhard? I know it is probably pronounced something like 'pan-ARD' but really. If they are determined to bring back a defunct French luxury nameplate how about the elegant sounding Delahaye or Delage. If PSA does not own the rights to these badges, they could probably be acquired for reasonable money. Also i don't think that there is a fair comparison here to Maybach. The French are not trying to compete in the ultra luxury segment with Rolls-Royce and Bently here but are trying to break into BMW, Merecedes territory in Europe where they have never (post-war) had a competitive premium product. An interesting nameplate to monitor is Lexus, which has recently been introduced wide spread through Europe and is a luxury division seeking BMW / Merecedes types of volumes.
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Spule 4 9:35PM (6/17/2007)
I love how those that have not owned French cars are the first to bash them. Sure, they have and have had their problems, but having owned both Citroens (including a grey market GS and I had NO parts problems whatsover) and Renaults, if they were to come back, I would take a look again, and I have a Toyota and Honda in the drive.
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Kri 8:36AM (6/18/2007)
Positioning would be a problem - too high and they would need unique components - i.E. no savings, too close to the existing ones and there really is no point. They would need to produce a RWD or at least a 4wd platform, which they currently lack, and which, unless the 607 and 407 replacements do not go RWD, would probably make no sense economically.
As for Peugeot diesel technology and Land rover, the 2.7 TDV6 engine is a joint venture with Peugeot anyway, with little difference from the one in the 407/607s and the C6.
Reliability is potentially not their strong suit but they are definitely not more abysmal than is acceptable. Given my recent experience with MB, they might be seen as a beacon of reliability - the E320CDI managed the first breakdown at 4000 miles, the second one at 15, the third at around 35 (the times between failures improving with age), had to receive three replacement radios, have the whole braking system replaced, the front suspension replaced, the turbocharger replaced, the whole fuel piping replaced, the rear centre LED brake lights replaced 3 times...
In the Lexus GS450h that replaced it the fuel consumption is marginally worse but at least there was nothing wrong with the car in the first 20k miles.
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