Peugeot Sales on the Rise

Peugeot is currently the second most popular carmaker in Europe after Volkswagen. Like many European car manufacturers, Peugeot started out as a family-run business. The company was founded way back in 1810. Of course, they weren't making automobiles at the time. No, the family ran a profitable coffee mill and dabbled in bicycle making.

In later years, when the bicycle became a hot seller, Peugeot stopped slinging coffee and developed its famous lion trademark. Always on the cutting edge, the company was one of the first in Europe to experiment with automobiles, producing its first working prototype in 1891.

At present, Peugeot sells over a million cars a year, mostly in Europe. But like most carmakers, the company has struggled during and in the wake of the economic recession when both new and used Peugeot sales took a hit. Fortunately, the market seems to be coming back a bit.

Peugeot recently announced that sales in the first quarter had increased by 28 percent over last year. This is encouraging news coming on the heels of a disastrous 2009 in which the company lost 1.1 billion Euros. How did Peugeot right the ship? In short, they got back to what they do best.

Peugeot is known for their small, affordable, fuel-efficient cars that are a hit in Europe, especially in the UK. The cars sell well in both the new and used car markets. In fact, used Peugeots have some of the highest resale values in their class based on the fact that they are reliable, economical cars.