Aulnay-sous-Bois PSA factory

[Wilko220]

It has been reported that PSA's plant at Aulnay-sous-Bois has closed:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24674995

 

The plant has an impressive shite history, having produced the following models over the years:

1973-1974: Citroen DS

1974 to 1989: Citroën CX

1975 to 1981: Citroen Type H (Utility)

1977 to 1986: Citroën LN

1977-1982: Peugeot 104

1979 to 1986: Citroën Visa

1986 to 1995: Citroën AX

1990 to 1990: Peugeot 205

1991-1996: Citroen ZX

1992 to 1993 and from 1998 to 2003: Peugeot 106

1996 to 2003: Citroën Saxo

2001-2013: Citroen

C3

2003 to 2009: Citroën C2

 

Here are a few pictures from the factory's past.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Partridge]

That makes me genuinely sad. Where will they be made now, China? That just won't be the same...

[chaseracer]

Probably in the remaining factories at Rennes and Vigo, or at Peugeot plants.

[Partridge]

Probably in the remaining factories at Rennes and Vigo, or at Peugeot plants.

I hope so...I can see some production being switched over the China in the next ten years or so, though...

[Wilko220]

It does say in the BBC article that PSA are in negotiations with "China's Dongfeng Motor" (whoever they are). I can't see the patriotic French consumer being very impressed with the idea of Chinese-built Citroens though.

[Hendry]

Yeah a great shame, PSA have brought it on themselves though, Citroens/Peugeots have always had dodgy reputations due to shonky build quality and rubbish electrics but they used to appeal to people due to their quirky features and clever designs like the old sphered suspension on Citroen, smart styling of cars like the Peugeot 205, 206, 306 and 405/6 etc and cracking handling which appealed to folk who wanted to be different from the crowd with their Corsas, Fiestas, Escorts and Astras.

 

Now they still have shite build quality, dodgy electrics, and poor reputations but none of the old charm to entice customers. We had a load of 207s on fleet at work and they were fitted with the antiquated old 1.4 8v TU3JP engine when everyone else had moved onto 16vs and turbos/supercharged, rubbish handling, interiors and carpets that look 10 years old after a week, and a load of them needed new clutches after 7000 miles, the 208s aren't much better, the engine is much better but the design and quality are still crap, the tiny wee steering wheel is annoying and blocks your view of the speedo etc and its really girly. I'm not even going to bother going into detail about the 308, words fail me how bad it is, or why they thought anyone was going to buy it over an Astra, Focus, Ceed, Civic etc

[Felly Magic]

PSA have been working with Dong Feng for a while. They even built a Chinese only ZX saloon which was popular as a taxi

[saucedoctor]

PSA is somewhat dans la merde these days

 

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/peugeot-family-could-hand-control-general-motors

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-11/faurecia-bets-on-global-projects-to-escape-european-woes.html

[Partridge]

PSA have been working with Dong Feng for a while. They even built a Chinese only ZX saloon which was popular as a taxi

China have been making loads of Citroens for years! (but they stay in China)

These were Fukang awful.

http://www.citroenet.org.uk/foreign/china/fukang/fukang-01.html

 

A Wuling, anybody?

http://www.citroenet.org.uk/foreign/china/wuling/wuling.html

 

I'll leave this here and run away very fast.

http://www.citroenet.org.uk/foreign/china/xsara-picasso/xsara-picasso.html

 

 

 

Eurgh!

http://www.citroenet.org.uk/foreign/china/t21/c2.html

[Partridge]

PSA is somewhat dans la merde these days

 

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/peugeot-family-could-hand-control-general-motors

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-11/faurecia-bets-on-global-projects-to-escape-european-woes.html

So not content with very nearly killing SAAB, GM are moving on to Citroen...God, I hate GM.

[Felly Magic]

Modern PSA cars are fugly, and reliability has become comedically awful, especially in the vans. Nobody seems to want French cars anymore, as Renner are struggling too, but laughably, their 'Asbos Smart Price' range, aka Dacia seem to be doing well. Citroen here in the UK have had to be sold with mahoooooosive discounts for years too, and even then sales have been poor

[carlo]

Something happened to Peugeot's whole structure, ethos and marketing decisions in the mid nineties.  I'd love to know who was making these decisions as the marque seems to have been on a slippery slope ever since.  I was in a Peugeot dealership at the time and the first time we saw and drove the 206 we knew something had changed, the car was average.  The 307 wasn't even average it was plain poor.  How can you go from making decent, enthusiasts' cars; market leaders in there field to to the dross which has followed it?  It's very sad.

[chaseracer]

The rot set in at Peugeot when it stopped making its own dampers.

[Partridge]

A lot of car makers seemed to stop building good cars in the 90's and decide to make shit. Mercedes is a classic example, and even now they're not still fully recovered.

I blame too much technology and too much bean counter pleasing.

 

I wonder if it was in response to the then snotty upstarts from Korea. Instead of making their products better, mainstream Western companies tried to increase their profit margins instead of increasing quality. Well look where that got them. Mercedes are Peugeot's quality (perceived or actual) is in the gutter, with VAG due to follow them there very soon (it's just a matter of time).

The Koreans have the product that is seen as being better, and more reliable as well as being 'good value'. And new Peugeots aren't cheap, and as Felly says, crap. No wonder PSA are in the shit.

Citroen have proved they've still got it, but it's not got enough to sustain the weight of PSA.

 

If you have a 406, hang on to it because it was the last good car Peugeot ever made. It's very sad. I love French cars, I really do, but I'd be kidding myself if I said I think they are certain to be here in ten years time.

Being raped by the Chinese car industry and pared back, held down and eventually killed off by General Motors is a depressingly viable future for them.

 

Unless the French government bail them out (again) and PSA are broken up and sold to a buyer who wants to make money from them by selling good cars, rather than farming off their technology to China and seeing the brands as rivals to capture, torture by putting their badges on sub standard, crap cars, and eventually kill (Peugeot did that to Talbot, so I guess this is karma) they are, to be blunt, fucked.

Very sad when you look at great and wonderful, wonderful cars France has turned out over the years like the SM and 205 GTi-but that's business at the end of the day.

[morris_ital_lover]

If you want a reason why PSA are in this shit just look at the slide in quality on this list;

From: 1973-1974: Citroen DS, 1974 - 1989: Citroën CX

To:2001-2013: Citroen C3, 2003 - 2009: Citroën C2

They've gone from market leading, revolutionary designs to cars that sit in the average/sub par bracket.

Peugeot, I've regularly heard it said that they lost the battle when they sacked Pinifarina in the late 90s and brought it in house. They do seem to have improved in looks of late, but I can't speak for the buld quality... I'd love a 508 when they're in shite territory, I think they're beautiful

 

The involvement of the French state and the looming interaction with GM seems a pretty bad idea IMHO... Before we know it PSA products will have become rebadged Opels which'll be a damned shame.

[Partridge]

The 508 is a lovely looking car, yes. But I just can't see it being as tough and durable as Pugs of yore. I hope I'm proved wrong, though..

And if they end up as rebaged GM crap, we'll know the world is truly a horrible place.

[nacho man]

The first post made me search ebay for a mk1 ax after seeing that pic, they are lovely little cars.

[Felly Magic]

Every day those bloody vans would have some fault or other pointed out on the dashboard, half the time the sodding bluetooth would go on the blink, often mid call, and I would regularly be called to go and rescue one of the other vans with the booster pack or tow rope, or it would be me needing a tow. The 207 cars were just as shite, and handled really badly. No wonder people have stopped buying them. My local Shitroen dealer is now just a tiny corner of the Ford dealer too.

[Partridge]

Sigh...one of the last cars to be properly good looking as well as the last good Pug.

 

[dieselnutjob]

With Peugeots, basically if it has CAN bus, avoid.  I wouldn't be surprised if the same applies to Citroens as the electronics would be the same.

[Pillock]

PSA were only good whilst they were sticking to the idea of simple, fun, cheap cars. The 106 and Saxo were good.... Nothing complicated, fun to drive. The 205 was a hoot. AXs can be fixed with a basic Halfords toolkit. 306TDs will run on anything from dog saliva upwards.

 

Only when they started thinking people wouldn't buy a car without electric testicle warmers or automatic glovebox dehumidifiers did it go wrong. My 307 was a champion of half-arsed electrics making life more complicated.

[Partridge]

The Australian car industry is in mire as well...

http://www.news.com.au/business/companies/new-report-claims-massive-job-losses-if-australian-car-industry-is-shut-down/story-fnda1bsz-1226752439104

[carlo]

PSA were only good whilst they were sticking to the idea of simple, fun, cheap cars. The 106 and Saxo were good.... Nothing complicated, fun to drive. The 205 was a hoot. AXs can be fixed with a basic Halfords toolkit. 306TDs will run on anything from dog saliva upwards.

 

Only when they started thinking people wouldn't buy a car without electric testicle warmers or automatic glovebox dehumidifiers did it go wrong. My 307 was a champion of half-arsed electrics making life more complicated.

 

There was nothing simple or cheap about the engineering on, say, the 305 or 405.  There were engineered properly, by people who understood the importance of driving dynamics. The only progress in 20 years seems to have been in fuel economy; reliability, performance, road behaviour and durability have taken a nosedive.

[e287yba]

Up until when the 205 hit the market, Peugeot was perceived as a range of well-built but staid, tough and reliable quality cars (look at how many pre-205 Peugeots, especially 504 estates, survive in Africa for example); they were also dans le merde financially and were very much the quiet side of the organisation when they merged with Citroen to give PSA. Peugeot have a long history covering well over a century including producing all sorts of engineering stuff.

 

The '80s and '90s were the good times for Peugeot, and Citroen did pretty well with their increasingly-less-eccentric-than-the-old range of models around the same time. In the UK, Peugeot were seen as a left field choice of car to buy before the 205 was launched - this car was the turning point for Peugeot in the UK and globally.

 

Now Citroen are the dominant PSA partner (not that that is saying much ), and Peugeot are arguably moribund and on the cusp of going to the wall after the rot set in with new models launched from the later '90s. As posted upthread, the mid-90s is when the rot set in - what happened?

 

 

PS the recent Peugeot look? More cheese, gromit!

[Pillock]

There was nothing simple or cheap about the engineering on, say, the 305 or 405. There were engineered properly, by people who understood the importance of driving dynamics. The only progress in 20 years seems to have been in fuel economy; reliability, performance, road behaviour and durability have taken a nosedive.

But whilst the energneering wasn't simple, the cars were to own. Decent reliability, just go on and on. How many times have you seen a 205 diesel covered in dents, that refuses to die? Probably the last time it saw a dealer was for PDI.

[beko1987]

They must have been good at building cars, my ZX had hardly any rust worth bothering with after 15 years, and most* things still worked electrically.

[Felly Magic]

There are quite a few 205's still running around here, including the odd mk1, and they don't seem to look crusty either. Sad to see what has happened to Pug really. 

[Station]

If car manufacturers can make a larger profit in China, then they will make cars to their tastes/requirements, and then we have to accept it. I was reading something in Car magazine where they interview a car designer, and he was saying even BMW has to use 'Asian' accents in their car design, as it's all about whether it will sell in China now. That's why most new cars look like that awful faux-bling Malaysian rubbish.

 

What would they rather do - make 50 million in the west with western inspired design or 100 million in the east with eastern inspired design.