Peugeot Starts Its Return to the United States Market on April 1
A report released by PSA Groupe, maker of Citroën and Peugeot vehicles, details the first part of a 10-year plan to reintroduce PSA brands into the North American market, starting in the United States this week!
So, how do you feel about mobility solutions?
PSA has partnered with French-based insurer MAIF to bring PSA’s TravelCar program to the United States. The service uses privately owned cars as rentals, with the idea that cars are unused too often and owners should maximize their utility.
The TravelCar pilot program will start at the Los Angeles and San Francisco airports because, as we all know, when you start something new in America, you do it on the West Coast. Three different types of services are provided by TravelCar, depending on whether you’re a car owner or user:
- Owners who participate in the rental program get free parking at the airport, and receive payment for the time their car is rented while they’re out of town.
- Also on offer, a cut-rate parking solution for owners who do not want to share their car (so, a parking lot).
- Users who are looking to rent a vehicle can have access to one of the private vehicles on offer in the TravelCar program.
PSA asserts the cost of using one of these private vehicles is about half of what they would be for a traditional rental car.
While new to North America, the TravelCar service has been around in Europe since 2012. Started in France, there are now over 200 locations across Europe and 300,000 users spread across 10 countries.
Head of Mobility Services at PSA Grégoire Olivier outlined the importance of launching TravelCar in America:
“We announced our progressive entry to North America by launching mobility services with our partners. We deploy these services worldwide to meet customers’ expectations. With TravelCar today, we’re writing the beginning of this new step overseas.”
After more than 20 years without any U.S. presence, it looks like Peugeot has some significant plans for a future here. And those plans start with you renting an old Prius.
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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Like Americans I thought les gen didn't favor their own brands aujourd'hui. Christ, even Hollande elopes on a scooter. No shared de gaulle voiture there. I swear if I went for that LAX package I would get biche Le Pen diamond ring glass scratches right in my eyeline.. All Citroen suspension systems should have to pass the Jackal test.
Which French manufacturer is in bed with Nissan? Would that be an entry point or am I thinking of somebody else?