Peugeot celebrates its 200 years of life. History, strategies, organisation and future prospects of the French car company. A comparison with Fiat Auto

AbstractThe motor industry is suffering more than other sectors from the effects of the current international crisis with a widespread drop in sales affecting almost all the main world producers, due to two factors that can be described as follows. On one side, the shrinkage in family per capita income inducing the consumer to spend less on luxury goods (like cars); on the other one, the high upkeep of cars because of a sharp increase in the cost of fuel, of insurance as well as of road tax, particularly in some European countries (like Italy). In addition to this ruinous economic situation reducing the car producing companies’ receipts, the high costs to be borne to renew the industrial plants in compliance with the environmental regulations as well as to design products that are able to meet the consumer's changing needs led motor companies to reorganise their competitive strategies with growing attention, as compared to the past, to a kind of strategy oriented to “innovation and flexibility”, allowing the design of new high technology products that are environment-friendly and energy saving with low selling prices compared to the quality offered. In particular, these goals can be achieved by implementing such strategies as those pursued by some producers in recent years: significant mergers with other car companies aimed at combining their individual peculiarities in order to properly widen the range of products offered; production relocation to emerging countries in order to profit from low costs of raw materials and labour to minimise production costs; boosting research and development to design cars that are able to run with alternative energy sources; re-launching neglected brands through creative promotional campaigns that are likely to stir up new emotions in the consumer.As a result, the present work is mainly intended to analyse the strategic evolution of one of the most ancient motor companies on the international scene, namely Peugeot, to weigh up the situation, on the occasion of its bicentenary, about the innovative ideas brought into the market, the kind of organisational structure adopted within the company itself, as well as the future prospects of the transalpine firm. In particular, after a rapid historical survey of the firm, the paper is going to assess whether the strategic choices made are able to meet the above-mentioned successful factors, in order to assume the possible result that the new models suggested are likely to achieve on the consumer market.Afterwards, the most suitable organisational structure to be adopted to support the strategic choices made in the present market conditions will be examined; finally, the dissertation will end by comparing such internationalisation strategies with those implemented by the transalpine competitor, namely Fiat, in order to assume which of the two strategic choices could turn out to be the most performing one in the future