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The story
Founded by Peugeot family in 1898.1
Peugeot built their first motorcycle in 1898 with a De Dion-Bouton engine mounted on the rear wheel. This model was shown at the 1898 Paris Exhibition but was not put into production. Peugeot did produce a tricycle in 1898 although most of the machine was actually manufactured by De Dion-Bouton.
In 1900 Peugeot started to manufacture quadricycles but these fell out of favor and ceased to be produced by 1903. In 1901, spurred on by the success of the French built Werner Brothers and Company Motobicyclette, Peugeot produced their own motorcycle using a Swiss made Zürcher and Lüthi (ZL) engine. The Peugeot 500 M, a 500 cc (31 cu in) dual overhead camshaft model appeared in 1914, the first of this type. In 1930, Peugeot absorbed Automoto which had been a pioneer in the field of motorcycles and scooters. Peugeot was the leading French motorcycle manufacturer until the 1950s producing many models.
In June 1981 an agreement was signed with Honda which provided for the purchase of Japanese two-stroke engines, variator transmission and electrical components to be installed in the Peugeot scooter.
In 1983 the new Peugeot SC was officially presented, the first scooter with plastic body of the French company equipped with a 50 and 80 cm³ two-stroke Honda engines and automatic gearbox; this mechanism derives from the Honda Lead (NH), produced in Japan from the previous year.
On October 1, 1984 Honda enters the capital of Peugeot MTC by purchasing 25% of the shares; the PSA Group remains the largest shareholder with 75% ownership.
The alliance with Honda will continue throughout the nineties, in fact the Japanese engines will also be used on the next Peugeot SV scooter, heir to the previous SC. In 2000 Peugeot will also market the Honda Foresight 250 scooter (produced in Atessa by Honda Industriale Italia) under its own brand as Peugeot SV 250.
On October 28, 2006, the "Jinan Qingqi Peugeot Motorcycle" was founded, a 50-50 joint venture between Peugeot Motocycles and Jinan Qingqi for the production of scooters in a new complex in Jinan intended for mainly European exports. The first models produced in China were the Peugeot 103 “Vogue” and the Kisbee, Citystar and V-Click scooters. Subsequently, the production of the Ludix and Django models was started.
In 2008 an agreement was signed with Sanyang Industry (SYM) for the production of scooters from 2009. This agreement provides for the supply of SYM technologies to Peugeot, specifically the Peugeot Tweet and LXR models are launched which are strictly derived respectively from the Taiwanese models SYM Symphony and SYM HD produced in China by SYM. The differences between the Taiwanese and French models are in a few design elements.
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In December 2012, the Dannemarie engine plant where the 50 and 125 engines were manufactured was closed. Part of the production was relocated to China at the Jinan plant of the Qingqi-Peugeot Motocycles joint venture.
In October 2014, Mahindra and Mahindra acquired a 51% controlling stake in the company. PSA Group kept 49% stake in the company as well as the use of its brand image.
Peugeot currently produces scooters and 3-wheelers with engines ranging from 50 to 500cc. It operates 2 production sites at Mandeure, France and Jinan, China. Peugeot scooters are sold in 60 countries. M&M subsequently acquired a 100% stake in 2019.
In November 2022, Munich-based private equity firm Mutares acquired 50% equity and 80% controlling stake in Peugeot Motocycles. In February 2023, Mutares completed the acquisition of the company.
In June 2023 Peugeot Motocycles and DAB Motors signed a partnership for the production and distribution of electric motorcycles; specifically, Peugeot will produce future DAB models in its Mandeure factory. Production of the electric motorcycle DAB 1α starts in 2024.
In October 2025, Peugeot Motocycles enters into a partnership with the manufacturer Sherco, under which Sherco will supply motorcycles to be sold under the Peugeot brand; the first model unveiled at EICMA 2025 is the new Peugeot XP6 (Enduro and Supermotard versions).
From Wikipedia’s article on Peugeot Motocycles, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5