Simca

Simca (Société Industrielle de Mécanique et Carrosserie Automobile) (Industrial Society of Mechanical and Automotive Body) was a French automaker, founded in November 1934 by Fiat. It was directed from July 1935 to May 1963 by the Italian Henri Théodore Pigozzi (born Enrico Teodoro Pigozzi, 1898–1964). Simca was affiliated with Fiat, but later, when Simca bought Ford's French branch, became increasingly controlled by the Chrysler Group, in 1970 becoming a part of Chrysler Europe and a brand rather than independent company. In 1978, Chrysler divested its European operations to another French automaker, PSA Peugeot Citroën, which replaced the Simca brand with Talbot, thus ending the life of the brand (although some models were badged as Simca-Talbots for a time).

During most of its post-war activity, Simca was one of the biggest automobile manufacturers and most popular automobile brands in France. The Simca 1100 was for some time the best-selling car in France, while the Simca 1307 and Simca Horizon won the coveted European Car of the Year title in 1976 and 1978, respectively — these models were badge engineered as products of other marques in some countries. For instance the Simca 1307 was launched in Britain as the Chrysler Alpine, while the Horizon was also sold as a Chrysler in Britain and on the American market it was marketed as the Dodge Sunbeam.

Simca vehicles were also manufactured by Simca do Brasil in São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, and Barreiros (another Chrysler subsidiary) in Spain. They were also assembled in Chile, Colombia and the Netherlands during the Chrysler era.

Read more about Simca:  Foundation, SIMCA, Aronde and Ford SAF Takeover, Fulgur, Chrysler, Collapse of Chrysler Europe, Afterlife, Models