List Of All French Car Brands

Peugeot is the most acclaimed and oldest car company headquartered in Paris, France. It was founded by The Peugeot Brothers in 1896. The first car was introduced by the end of the 19^th century with an internal combustion engine. Previously, owned by Groupe PSA, the brand now comes under Stellantis and is a well-known brand throughout the world.

The Peugeot logo represents a lion symbolizing power and loyalty. The slogan of the company is “Motion & Emotion.”  Peugeot 208 is one of the bestselling cars with its distinct design and amazing dynamics.

After Peugeot, Renault is the second-oldest car brand in France. Founded by three Renault brothers, Louis, Marcel, and Fernand in 1899 and headquartered at Boulogne-Billancourt, France. Renaut cars are sold in almost 12 countries around the world.

Renault's sub-brands are Dacia, Alpine, and Mobilize. Their product range extends largely. The top-selling model includes sedans and SUVs like Logan and Duster. The logo represents a diamond with its slogan as ‘Passion for Life.’

Citroen is another legendary French brand situated in Saint-Ouen, France. Founded in 1919 by Andre Citroen, it belongs to the Stellantis manufacturing group. The popularity of this brand was the result of reasonable pricing policies.

The Citroen logo has seen many changes throughout history and it presently includes an oval outline with flat dark strips. The slogan of the company is “Creative Technologie.” C4 Cactus and DS5 models are excellent sports cars that highlight great engineering knowledge.

Bugatti is a luxury French automotive brand founded by Ettore Bugatti in 1909. Headquartered in Molsheim, Alsace, France, Bugatti is rarely referred to as the car with the most speed in the world. Futuristic design and high-tech equipment is another factor that distinguishes this brand from others.

Bugatti has a distinctive logo with a creative design that includes, a red badge with the name of the founder placed in an oval, cornered by 60 precious pearls. Bugatti Veyron is termed as the fastest car in the world and one of the best Bugatti cars.

Microcar was founded in 1984 by Philippe Ligier as a part of the Beneteau Group, a massive sailboat manufacturer. This brand is popular among the French youth due to its urban 2-seat micro car New Street. Another factor that makes this brand popular among youths is the no-license requirement for a 16-year-old.

Microcar also has two different series of front-wheel drive compact cars especially for adults. Some of their models include Microcar M. GO-3 Dynamic, MC series models- MC1 and MC2, and Microcar M. Go Outdoor.

Alpine, the sub-brand of Renault is a minor car brand in France founded in 1955 by Jean Redele. The company is known for producing high-performance vehicles and focuses on luxury sports cars. Headquartered in Dieppe, France, the production of sports cars was to confront the British and Italian brands in the French car market.

Alpine cars are low-volume cars known for their shiny design and extraordinary driving energy. The company’s logo is a simple custom bold of the word Alpine with five diagonal lines. Some of the popular Alpine car models are the Alpine A110, Alpine A310, Renault 5 Alpine, and others.

Venturi is a well-known French car brand that specializes in electric vehicles. Founded in 1984 by Claude Poiraud and Gerard Godfroy, the company is situated in Fontvieille, Monaco, France. The company is owned by Gildo Pastor.

The company had produced many roadsters and coupes by the middle of the 1980s. The Venturi 400 GT was the first ever car in the world to incorporate carbon brakes and still remains the French car with the highest performance ever made. The logo symbolizes a simple letter T in the thin red line above a white background.

Ligier is another famous French car brand that centers on the production of microcars, quad bikes, and light commercial vehicles. It was founded in 1968 by Guy Ligier, a car racer and rugby player. Ligier stresses introducing creative and environment-friendly transport solutions.

Earlier the company only focused on sports and racing cars, but gradually it shifted towards electric cars, city cars, and unmanned vans. Some of its models include The Ligier JS2 R, Ligier JS P217, Ligier Nova, Ligier x-Too, and others.

PGO is the least heard of French car branch founded in 1985 by Prevot brothers, Gilles and Olivier. The company focused on producing sports cars with retro designs. The vehicles are found in some countries in Europe and Asia. During the first year of the company's existence, they made replicas of renovated cars of the 1920s and 1930s.

The logo of the brand includes a shield with ‘PGO’ letters and three lines drawn at the center. Some of PGO’s car model includes, the first launched Speedster II, a two-seat sports car, then PGO Cevennes, and lastly PGO Hemera.

Aixam is a French automotive industrial group founded in 1983 and owned by Polaris Industries.  After the acquisition of Arola, the company started producing microcars. It also produces subcompact cars, light quads, cars, and other commercial vehicles. Aixam brand operates under two division brands: Aixam and Mega.

Aixam vehicles are sold in France, Europe, and North America. The logo of this brand includes a circle with a huge letter A in the center and right in the center of the letter A is the Axiam name.

DS is a luxury expensive French automaker that was initially founded by Citreon in 2009. Now it is owned by Stellantis Group. The name DS can be abbreviated as Different Spirit or Distinctive Series. The brand is extended towards Europe and China. They are known for their advanced and high-tech innovation.

DS has introduced a separate logo from the Citroen double chevron with a rear badge. DS 3 is one of the popular DS brand models SUVs today with some other top models such as DS 7, DS 4, AND DS 9.

Dacia is a French car brand that was initially introduced in Romania in 1967. Today, it is a division of French Renault Group. After becoming part of the Renault Group, the company started making Dacia 1300, 1310, 1400, and 1410 models. Almost every Dacia model takes inspiration from the Renault 12.

The logo represents emblems D and C with the name Dacia at the end. Their product range varies from Logan, Sandero, Duster, and many others. Sander and Duster are the most popular and best-selling Dacia cars.

De la Chapelle is an autonomous French car maker. It was founded in 1970 by Xavier de la Chapelle, former director at Venturi. The brand came into existence first as a Buggati replica maker. The brand also has a significant automobile heritage with the Stimula brand.

The company focuses on producing excellent cars with modern technology. Their vehicles are elegant and sophisticated. They were appreciated for the remarkable replica of the Bugatti Type 55 and the Jaguar SS100. The company has two popular models: DLC Parcours and DLC Roadster.

Exagon Motors, owned by the Exagon Engineering Group is a French automotive company. The brand is involved in the production of high-performance electric vehicles. Launched in 2004 by Luc Marchetti, Exagon Motors has made a promising impact in the electric car market.

The company is recognized for its creation, the Furtive-eGT, a four-seated luxurious electric sports car introduced in 2012. The logo represents a shield with emblem E and creatively crafted M. Below that the name Exagon Motors is written.

Jannarelly Automotive is a French company that manufactures retro-futuristic sports cars. It was founded in 2016 by automotive and product designer, Anthony Jannarelly along with racing boat builder, Frederic Juillot. The company aims to provide traditional symmetric designs, pure driving experiences, utmost customization, and proper customer feedback.

Jannnarelly Design-1 is the company’s first product that is a two-seater based on a tubular steel structure surrounded by a carbon fiber structure. The Design-1 has three different versions: Aero, Roadster, and Sport. Design-1 is similar to 50s, 60s, and 70s sports cars.

Salmson is an engineering company that initially manufactured pumps. Founded in 1890, the company started manufacturing automobiles and airplanes in the 20^th century. The company’s subsidiaries are spread in many countries, such as Argentina, Italy, Portugal, Vietnam, and South Africa.

In the case of cars, they first made replicas, then formed a separate car parts business then only started making their own cars. The first Salmson car included a four-cylinder engine with unusual valve gear. Some of their early models include AL, D-type, VAL3, AL3, and others.

Isatis is a French company with an aim to produce small, sporty mid-engined automobiles. Isatis BV6, 2000 is a prototype sports car whose production is expected to be less than 100 per year to render exclusivity. The engine to be used is a French PSA 3-liter V-6 like the one Peugeot used.

Horsepower is estimated to be around 200, with 0-60 taking about 5 seconds. The car will have a top speed of 145 mph. Vehicles with similar speed performance are the Dodge Mopar Durango, Jaguar F-PACE 300 sport, Avatar Roadster, and many others.

Panhard was one of the famous French car brands that defunct in 2018. It was one of the leading car industries in France. Founded in 1887 by Rene Panhard and Emile Levassor, as Panhard & Levassor, the company began its production journey by obtaining a license to build Daimler’s cars.

For almost 2 decades, Panhard was treated as the most creative car maker in France. The logo of the brand symbolizes a circle with the initials P and L inside. Some Panhard models are Dyna X, Dynavia, Dyna Junior, and others.

Simca is another popular French car brand that ceased operation in 1970. Founded in 1934 by Fiat S.p.A, the company was acquired by Chrysler Europe. It was one of the largest automobile manufacturers in France. For quite some time, the Simca 1100 was the bestselling and most popular car in France, while the Simca 1307 and Simca Horizon were awarded the European Car of the Year title in 1976 and 1979 respectively.

The Simca logo is a rectangular box with blue and red color and the name Simca written at the end. Simca cars were also manufactured in Brazil, Colombia, Spain, and Finland.

Matra is another defunct French brand founded in 1945 by Jean Lagardere and Marcel Chassagny and ceased in 2003. The company was involved in diverse businesses but its main focus was around automobiles, bicycles, aeronautics, and weaponry.

After acquiring Automobiles Rene Bonnet, another French car manufacturer in 1960, the Matra brand started flourishing with the production of racing cars and sports cars. Matra sold its first car Matra Djet that was powered by Renault. Following poor financial behavior Matra became bankrupt and sold off its assets in 2003.