RideLust

Sometimes a car commercial comes along that just makes you smile. Who knows, maybe it hits that little nerve inside your head that reverts you back into a 4-year old, or maybe it just has the ability to bring your mood back to normal after a crappy day. Whatever the reason, this commercial for the Peugeot 207 does just that by giving us a little bit of Disney’s “Cars”, a great tune and some stellar CGI. Sure the commercial is a few years old, but in my book that doesn’t make it any less entertaining… click through and enjoy.

Source: Vimeo.com

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The last time you could walk into a Peugeot dealer in the United States and buy a new car was in 1991 (though inventory probably lasted until 1992 or 1993). Back then, chances are good it would have been a 405 sedan, not a bad car, but simply not distinctive enough to lure American buyers. Lacking a solid mix of cars, U.S. Peugeot dealers saw sales decline to 4,261 units in 1990 and just 2,240 units in 1991. Clearly it was time to take the brand off of life support in the United States. Read More…

The Mini E, likely to benefit from the new joint venture. Image: © BMW AG

The BMW Group and PSA Peugeot Citroën have signed an agreement to establish a joint venture aimed at developing hybrid drive technologies. The company, to be called BMW Peugeot Citroën Electrification, will develop and build components for hybrid systems, including battery packs, generators, chargers, controllers and software. By sharing R&D, purchasing and production, the partner companies feel that they’ll be able to develop and build hybrid vehicles more economically than their competitors. Read More…

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may be the president of Iran, but he’s got a thing or two to learn about selling cars on the internet. He recently put his 1977 Peugeot up for bid on a special website launched by the Iranian government, and the bids have already exceeded $1 million. I may not agree with the man’s politics, his sanity or his rather bizarre take on world history, but he’s selling his car for a noble cause (the construction of houses for the disabled and their caretakers), and besides, I hate to see anyone get scammed. Mr. Ahmadinejad, the internet is a corrupt place. You know your views on the lawless decadence of the west, specifically Hollywood and Vine in Los Angeles? The internet is worse than that. It’s got more thieves and scam artists than New Year’s Eve in Times Square, and that’s saying something. I’m guessing that whoever placed the $1 million bid for a car worth $1,000 (and I’m being generous since you’re selling it for charity) is about 15 years old and posting from his mom’s computer. He probably had a good laugh about it, and signed up with some creative user name like “DeathToTheWest77”. Trust me on this, he’s not going to cough up the Rials for the purchase, since his net worth is probably a Playstation 3 and a tattered copy of “Penthouse” magazine.

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Bicycles are human powered. They don’t have motors. And they certainly don’t have on-board computer systems. They are the perfect amalgam of man and machine. So you, engineer at Peugeot, and you, SolidWorks whiz at ebike: Stop. Peugeot’s electric-assist bicycle reared its bull-horn-shaped grips at the Paris Auto Show, sporting a hub-less wheel. Electric scooter manufacturers smart also unveiled its ebike, which has an iPhone dock. Seriously. Enough is enough. Few things rival the simple joy of riding a bicycle. Don’t make it any more complicated than it has to be. Hit the jump for more photos.

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The psychotically awesome Peugeot Ex1 electric concept recently hit the track, and it clocked some impressive numbers. It hit 62 mph (100 kph) in 3.55 seconds, the quarter mile in 14.4, and raced up to a top speed of 161 mph. So, okay, the 14.4 quarter mile time isn’t all that impressive. But everything else about the car is. The thing looks like an angry silverfish, has all-wheel drive, and requires a helmet to dive. Its seats are also attached to its doors, which swing out like insectoid wing covers. Oh, and its two rear wheels ride on a motorcycle-like swing arm. Hit the jump for more photos.

Source: Wired

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There are a whole mess of sweet European rides that us ‘Mericans just plain ignore. Peugeot’s 504 coupe is one of them. It’s like an Italian supermodel crossed with a buxom French burlesque performer. It’s an apt analogy, considering its body was penned by the renowned Pininfarina and its mechanicals are all French. Well, French and Swedish. But we’ll get to that later. The 504 coupe was released in 1969, one year after the 504 sedan hit the streets of Paris. It was originally equipped with a wheezy but efficient 1.8-liter inline four cylinder. In 1974 the coupe received a 136-horsepower 2.7-liter V6. The engine was developed as a joint venture between Peugeot, Renault, and Volvo, and ended up in many European cars. The 504 had fully independent suspension and handled well enough to win the Sahara Rally in 1978. Unfortunately, like most cars of the ’70s, the 504 coupe had no rust protection and tended to dissolve in even mild humidity. Still, there are some floating around the States, just waiting to dance for the right owner.

Source: Ran When Parked

In U.K., Your Peugeot RCZ Owns You

In what may be the creepiest car ad ever filmed (despite the happy pop soundtrack), a British man is stalked by a new Peugeot RCZ retractable hard top convertible. The car follows him through deserted streets before trapping him on the sixth floor of a parking garage. The door opens to reveal a driverless car with intelligence similar to HAL, the computer that didn’t handle rejection well in “2001: A Space Odyssey”. No way in hell am I getting into that car.

The tag line, “It chooses you, it owns you” reminds me of the old “In Soviet Union” jokes. Remember, “In America, you can always find a party; in Soviet Union, party always finds you”?

Found on: Autoblog

First came news that the 2011 Ford Explorer would be a unibody front-wheel-drive sport ute, instead of the body on frame RWD version we’d come to expect. Now, Land Rover, maker of storied off road vehicles that have been to hell and back, has announced a new front wheel drive version of their upcoming LRX. Expect it to be unveiled at this October’s Paris Auto Show, with production beginning sometime in 2011. We probably won’t see it on this side of the pond, as the sole motor identified to date is a 2.2 liter turbo diesel developed in conjunction with Peugeot.

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The past thirty years have not been kind to automakers who sell cars in the United States. We’ve seen financial collapse, rising distribution and product liability costs, skyrocketing oil prices and a fickle buying public that no longer understands the concept of brand loyalty. Selling cars in the U.S. of A, it seems, requires deep pockets for marketing and promotion: if you’re not constantly in the face of the American consumer, chances are you won’t be a brand for very long.

Toyota’s recent $16.4 million fine got me thinking about how many automotive brands, good, bad and otherwise we’ve lost over the past 30 years. Following is a collection of car logos that have received last rites in the United States since 1980. Some of these companies continue to enjoy success in the EU or Asia, while others are dead and buried, with no chance of resurrection. It begs the question of how different the automotive landscape will look in another 30 years, assuming we’re still driving cars at all.

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