Sacr Bleu! Peugeot US-Bound Through Mitsubishi?

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Oh mon Dieu ! Zee French is coming!​

Motor Trend
Everyone knows about the Peugeot 4007 and Citroen C-Crosser, two badge-engineered crossovers with French grilles pasted on to Japanese-built Mitsubishi Outlanders. And you've probably heard about talks between Mitsubishi and Peugeot-Citroen PSA, rumored going back to the Geneva motor show in early March. Now I'm hearing the talks may lead to Mitsubishi building the Peugeot 408 in its underused Normal, Illinois, plant. The 408 is the French automaker's next D-segment (midsize) car.







Insiders speculate that such a deal won't be approved for another year. Peugeot is thinking about building the 408 in the States to sell in South America. Of course, if you're building it here, still the world's largest auto market, presumably you'd sell it here, too.

That presumption hinges on an improving image of France and all things French, a half-decade after Congress renamed French fries sold on Capitol Hill as "freedom fries," when our Gallic friends refused to support the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Anyway, Peugeot also would need a sales channel. Since it's considering just one car so far, it could be an added product for Mitsubishi dealers, which are hanging on for dear life in the U.S. Mitsubishi sold just 118,558 cars and trucks in the U.S. in 2006, down from nearly 124,000 in 2005 and well off its peak years of about 200,000 units.

There's been some speculation that the 408 could serve as a replacement for the Galant. That car was to be built off an enlarged Lancer platform and was to launch about the same time as the new 2007 Lancer. But Mitsubishi will indeed go forth with plans to build a new Galant off the enlarged Lancer platform, and we'll see a preview of the new car before the end of the year at the Tokyo motor show.

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It sounds good to me. The US is becoming a more crowded marketplace, but there is still a lot of money to be made here with good products. That is, if Peugeots are still good products. The tie-in with Mitsubishi should play out interestingly as well, given that the brand still didn't do too hot even when paired with Chrysler and Hyundai just a short time ago.

But hey, if Peugeot can come here, that means Citroen can too. And if I can get a C4, thats all I care about.

...And maybe Nissan will wise-up and finally drag the Clio over as well...

I think America is ready for a few fier d'être models, they just have to be the right ones to begin with. Sure, there were a few faux pas before, and the situation wasn't too good a few years ago, but we seem to be warming up to France a bit these days. I guess what it comes down to is Ceux-qui rient le vendredi, pleureront le dimanche, or whoever thinks its funny now, might not think so in the future.
 
YSSMAN, you're trying too hard with the french interjections. :lol:

I honestly have no idea how successful Peugeots and Citroëns could be here. There are those who illogically hate all things French for pseudo-political reasons, yet there are those who maybe cherish their French heritage, or would want to be seen in a fancy European car that isn't one of the usual suspects. There are those who remember the less-than-great cars that led to the stateside withdrawal of "lesser" European car companies in the 1980's, and then there are younger folks who only know these companies through Gran Turismo.

At least some of the responses in this thread will give us an idea of what enthusiasts will think. It sounds good to me -- not because I'd consider buying one, but because I like the idea of variety in the car market and would like to see Peugeot and Citroën do well here.
 
Hey, I just wanted to work my French skills. If it was German, I would have done that...

Either way, its going to be the young folks in the US that decide the fate of Peugeot here. If they're smart, and I dearly hope they are, they will bring over the 207 and the 407, and then let Citroen run free with the C4 and maybe the C6. Between the two companies that are practically the French Chevrolet and Pontiac, Citroen would likely fair much better, but thats just my opinion.

If they can market the cars right with modest numbers planned, ala Toyota's Scion brand, the French shouldn't have any problems.
 
You know that Mitsubishis aren't very reliable when you have to call in Peugeot and Citroen for backup.
 
Well, I suppose if people will forget the disastrous Renalut/AMC Alliance....
 
If they're cheap and moderately reliable, they'll sell just fine.

They aren't having a hard time selling Volkswagens these days...

The way they're making it sound though, with just one model, isn't a good idea. They're going to need to bring the 207 or 308 if they want any kind of market penetration, however the 1007 may be the "wildcard" in the Peugeot deck, given the success of the Toyota Yaris and Honda Fit thus far in the US.
 
The heck with that, where's Renault? They should have an easy in to the US by way of Nissan, and there's not even a hint of a return. The Clio would blow the Fit & Yaris away in terms of fun small hatchbacks. It's not as though Nissan really competes against the Clio/Megane/Espace/etc. lineup.
 
Thats mostly because people who aren't half-dead will be buying them...

...Not that I have anything against Nissan, but they've managed to squander any hopes I had of them actually making an outstandingly good car for a while. Too many CVTs, too much cheap plastic, and a pricing game that ignores what was once their core audience; Poor college kids.

The Versa is the last hope, but that shares some stuff with Renault anyway...
 
First off, Normal, Illinois is a real city. It's home to the Illinois State University Redbirds if you follow college sports.

That would be very interesting if Mitsubishi (of all people) start Peugeot's return to the US. There haven't been too many Peugeots I don't like. My true Peugeot love is the beautiful 406. Some of the newer Peugeots look pretty nice. None too beautiful, though. Hey... we got a deal with Nissan and Renault. So this may be the next deal with Mitsubishi and Peugeot-Citroen.

I've seen a few Peugeots here in the United States, mostly imported from Mexico. I've seen two Peugeot 206 machines around Houston. One of them is sometimes parked at my community college. I'd be interested to see some of Peugeot's models actually find their way to the States. (I'm going to get bashed for this, so be ready...) French cars can usually be pretty stylish. Peugeot is among one of them. Perhaps their 2007 Le Mans appearance on Speed will give some American fans some exposure of Peugeot. Or should I say... today's Peugeot. Peugeots have an interesting mix of sharp lines and curvy lines. Most of the end results are some amazing cars. I even equate Peugeot to the awesome 206 WRC rally car. And then, the rather unsuccessful (but still lovely) 307 WRC. GTPlanet's own, and my online friend from Manchester, Dave A proudly loves his Peugeot 306 that I don't like all that much. America may be getting a Chinese invasion, but we're certainly due for a European invasion. I can't wait to see the Alfa Romeo 8C here in the States as well as other Alfa Romeo models, but I'm also interesting in seeing Peugeot and perhaps Citroen to follow. These are two of France's most storied car companies perhaps trying to make it big in America again. And if Mitsubishi leads the charge, then so be it. More power to the company which bears three red diamonds in their logo.
 
Come to think of it, I think my Mom had a Peugeot 405 for a short period of time. It was just after she divorced my Dad, sold his truck, and moved us into an apartment. It wasn't for more than a few months (it was on loan from somone, I don't remember who), but I do remember that it was an odd car. The badge still sticks out in my mind, but then something about the suspension sticks out too.

Hmm.

It may explain why the Peugeot brand was so forgetable for so many Americans.
 
I like Peugeot. I love Mitsubishi. But I don't think this is a good idea. Sounds kind of half-assed, and Peugeot-Mitsubishi does not feel like an winning combination to me.
 
-> To tell you guys honestly, I would rather see Citroen to be on US shores. Sure the parent Peugeot is the big-daddy here, but hey, I really like the Picasso. But I heard that the French cars have terrible depreciation value, is it true? By the way, I like Renault too, good cars enough to rival the up-coming Astra. More hatches in the US, please!
 
Brad...

Tu échoues parce que tu ne parles pas Français. Si tu parles français, c'est comme ci comme ça.

Well, maybe you do, but just awkward usage of it. Trying too hard :p

We do not need Peugout here... they have hideous cars and from what I have heard are kinda rubbish. At least Citroen would look nice... well, Peugout can do the small cars kinda right, but their largers models just get more and more ugly. Though not as ugly as some Renaults I have seen whilst over there.
 
I hope they don't plan on selling too many of the beached whales over here (they even managed to make the Outlander look ugly. That, my friends, takes talent), but I'm sure Citroen will be quite successful if they tried to return.
 
Azuremen
Tu échoues parce que tu ne parles pas Français. Si tu parles français, c'est comme ci comme ça.
Click to expand...

Non, je ne parle pas français. Cependant, je parle allemand.

===

I'm surprised about how many of us want Citroen. I still get the feeling that they would do quite well in this country, particularly if Scion can sell the xB and xD.

...Although I think we can all agree that Renault is what we want most...
 
I really want the C4 as well, but I wouldn't mind having the option of the Clio or the Megane too...
 
I want Citroen MORE than Peugeot, and Renault. Anything to have my beloved C6.

EDIT: Lulz. Me and Toronado have HIVEMIND.
 
Now, if you're talking Renault, the Clio (the mid/RWD version) has to be top priority. Some would probably say it's the only hatchback performance types would want. It's a handsome machine as well.

Here is a problem if you bring in Citroen. They have cars called the C3, C5, C6, and all that. People are likely going to confuse Citroen models with some variations of the Corvette. They'll need to change the names of the cars so that Corvette types don't get annoyed. I remembered the C3 in GT4 and Enthusia. Since I love blue, there was one certain blue color I liked best. Kind of like Duke or Kentucky blue. The grill kind of reminds me of a Chrysler. Other than the 1957 and 1963 Corvettes, I think the C5 is among some of my all-time favorite Corvettes. The Citroen C5 is a pretty handsome car in its own right. I haevn't seen the C6 yet, so I won't comment on the C6.

Now back to Peugeot, and think about this. If they bring the 206 (or whatever the most recent 2-series model is) to America, it will be yet another rally weapon to America. We were glad we got a REAL Lancer rather than that wussy Lacner in 2001. Could probably be guaranteed to see some SCCA-licensed drivers pick up one of the rally-bound Peugeots to take it to Mitsubishi and Subaru in Rally America. There's some incentive to having Peugeot back in the States. Question is, can they at least be noticed and respected by car lovers and automotive journalists alike? Are these going to be contenders or also-rans? Unique automobiles or "me too" automobiles? Time will tell.
 
I never even thought of the Corvette generation descriptions causing issues, but even then, I doubt GM could do anything about it. I don't think they have a trademark on the names, but the C5 and C6 name gets thrown around a lot these days, kinda like E36 and E90 or whatever.

If they send Peugeot over, they'll probably do the 308 and the 408 (when it comes out), given that success is largely measured by having a family sedan and a decent-sized hatchback. The bigger question is how well Americans would adapt to the "open mouth" look to the Peugeots as of now. They looked a bit better a few years back...

...Which leads me to guess that Citroen, in looks alone, would likely fare much better...
 
car_rt_photo_213111_1_7.jpg


Citroen C6

56.jpg


Peugeot 607.

I think the C6 wins.

I don't know why, it just looks so good.
 

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