French cars: Trusted as taxis in Africa, but Malaysians say reliability is terrible

Like consumers in many parts of the world, many Malaysians will agree that French Renault and Peugeot cars have poorer quality than a German Volkswagen, but all three are less reliable than a Japanese Toyota.

But here’s the contradiction – old Peugeots and Renaults are the vehicle of choice for North African taxi drivers, who cover a lot of miles on unpaved African roads, often overloaded.

From Ethopia to Morocco to Senegal to Burkina Faso and many other countries you will struggle to locate on the map, the most popular taxis there are 40-year old Peugeot 504s and Renault 4s.

A feature story by Reuters even called the Peugeot 504 a ‘French workhorse’, because locals find it to be reliable and cheap to run, and all Malaysians go “What?”.

So what’s going on here? We will get to that later, but first let’s establish some context – French cars didn’t always ranked behind Germans.

France co-invented the car

If Germany’s Karl Benz is the father of the modern automobile, then France’s must be its mother.

In 1769, Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built a steam-powered car 117 years before Karl Benz’s petrol engine 1886 Patentwagen. It was the French who first proved that the concept of a horse-less carriage is possible. 

France is the second, less recognized homeland of the automobile. Germany is home to Daimler, the world’s oldest car manufacturer, but France is home to Peugeot, the world’s oldest car brand, dating back to 1810, except that Peugeot didn’t make cars until 1890, 4 years after Karl Benz.

Before it made cars, Peugeot made bicycles. Louis Renault wasn’t far behind too, founding Renault in 1899, four years earlier than Ford.

So the French have just as much experience as the Germans when it comes to cars.

Also, the first motor racing event was held in France, the 126-kilometre 1894 Paris–Rouen rally. Today, the annual 24 Hours of Le Mans at Circuit de La Sarthe is the world’s oldest running motor racing event.

Before World War 2, French manufacturers dominated Grand Prix racing (it wasn't called F1 until 1947).

In the 1900s, French cars were better than German ones

It’s hard to imagine this today but the early days of luxury cars were defined by France, not Germany.

In the first half of the 20th century, France was a lot more developed and richer than Germany, which came out of World War 1 poorer and had its economy was curtailed by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles.

Panhard, Bugatti (the pretty ones by Ettore Bugatti, not the ugly VW subjects today), Delahaye, and Voisin were the Rolls-Royces and Mercedes-Benzes of roaring ‘20s.

French ‘Art Deco’ cars – a form of art style that dominated from 1920s to ‘50s – were the best luxury cars then.

Germany had Horch 8 and Mercedes SSK, which were big and fast but rather crude when compared to a Bugatti Type 57 SC Atlantic or a Voisin C20.

Auto Union (predecessor to today’s Audi) had streamlined race cars but it was Delahaye that sold streamlined land yachts to industry magnates of the early 20th century.

Moving further down the hierarchy, Citroen was once the world’s most innovative car company.

In 1919, Citroen was the first European company to implement Henry Ford's mass production method, for the Citroen Type A, at its Quai de Javel plant (has since been demolished) just 3 km away from the Eiffel Tower. At that time, Citroen's technical competency was way ahead of Daimler while BMW won't even make its first car until 9 years later!

The Traction Avant pioneered lightweight unibody construction and space-saving front-wheel drive. Despite being a much bigger car, the Traction Avant weighed no more than a VW Beetle (890 kg vs 892).

In the days before NCAP testing existed, before Volvo became the byword for safety, founder André Citroën had a Traction Avant pushed down an 8-metre cliff, only to have two men fixing its windscreen before driving off.

Long before electronic adaptive suspension existed, Citroen’s hydropneumatic suspension could keep a car upright even with just three wheels – a feature that former President Charles de Gaulle credited for saving him from an assassination attempt in 1962, as his Citroen DS sped away even after gunshots had punctured its tyres.

France is also one of the world’s oldest capitals of science and engineering. For many engineering students, their first introduction to French names was through Engineering Mathematics classes – Laplace transform, Pascal matrix, and Fourier analysis.

Even today, the French are the world’s most trusted builders of nuclear power plants. They also built the Concorde and A380. So they know more than just a thing or two in building machines.

Plus, Michelin is still the world’s best tyre manufacturer.

So why are today’s French cars poorer than German? Lazy French?

It’s easy to believe the stereotype that French people are lazier than the Germans, and so they made poorer quality cars. That’s not true.

OECD’s data on labour productivity show French workers to be just as hardworking as the Germans, with an average productivity of around 55 Euros per hour.

You know which country is lazier? The United Kingdom, at around 43 Euros per hour, lower than even Italy, and Italian workers have quite a reputation.

So let’s move away from the condescending stereotype of the lazy French vs the hardworking German. The answer lies elsewhere.

First, we have to understand how France’s car industry developed (versus Germany). If clothes maketh man, then societal conditions maketh a nation’s car.

France’s egalitarian identity

The French republic is defined by events of the French Revolution, the revolutionary call of Liberté, égalité, fraternité (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity).

France sees itself as an egalitarian welfare state. OECD data puts France top in welfare spending (as proportion of national income).

It’s why French industrial policies seeks to protect employment and build affordable people’s cars, as opposed to attaining global supremacy.

Germany on the other hand, has its identity shaped along industries that use steel and iron, as well as strict work discipline required by heavy industries. The growth of steel- and iron-related industries in Germany were heavily influenced by rich coal deposits in Germany’s northern region.

In other words, France’s goal is to ensure job security. Germany’s goal is to raise its industry, job creation is just a byproduct of it.

1948 – the beginning of the decline

After World War 2, Renault was nationalized by the French government, which remains an important shareholder until today. It also started meddling more into the affairs other car companies.

Post-war France’s economy was rebuilt under the 1948 Pons-Plan, named after Paul-Marie Pons, the military engineer tasked to rebuild France’s automotive industry.

France’s Ministry of Industry, motivated by egalitarian ideals, ordered all French manufacturers to exit the luxury car business to focus on affordable cars.

The plan was a disaster for luxury-focused manufacturers like Panhard, Delahaye, and Voisin.

Citroen was allowed to still build big cars though, hence the Citroen SM, CX, and XM that followed; Renault and Peugeot focused on smaller cars.

France also instituted tax reforms for cars, based on horsepower. The iconic 9 horsepower Citroen 2CV was the outcome.

It’s also why French brands are not remembered for powerful engines, even though Voisins had V12 engines and Bugattis had straight-8 engines. Yes, 8.

In its quest to make cheap cars for the masses, to be produced in huge quantities to create more jobs, the Pons-Plan killed the goose that laid the golden egg for France's automotive industry.

The skills of artisan craftsmen who hand-built so many fantastic French grand prix engines and trim luxurious cabins for French limousines, slowly withered away.

With no grand projects to inspire its engineering talent and no avenue to introduce hi-tech features, the French car industry went into a slow decline, while Germany and Japan rose.

Famous French coachbuilders like Saoutchik had fewer luxury cars to work on and by the '50s, had to be closed down. 

As Germany and Japan had to start from a much lower base (the two countries were bombed worse), French manufacturers could still stay ahead for a few more decades.

Up until the ‘70s, Volkswagen only had the Bettle and Kombi, and several air-cooled sedans nobody wanted, while BMW wasn’t even household name yet, with Jaguar owning the performance executive car segment then - 'Grace, Pace, and Space' was Jaguar's slogan.

It should be noted that in the years after the war, resources were scarce all over Europe and Japan. Governments of Germany and Japan too encouraged production of kei and ‘bubble cars’ respectively, cars like the Subaru 360 and the BMW Isetta.

The difference was, France saw small economy cars as a final objective, while Germany and Japan saw it as a temporary stop-gap measure.

Yes, France did build large E-segment cars like the Renault Safrane, Citroen C6, and Peugeot 607 – all discontinued today - but these cars were built mainly for French heads of state and French corporate customers, rather than private individuals shopping for a premium sedan.

Development of highway network

For better or for worse, Hitler’s speed-limit free autobahn - to quicken movement of his military vehicles - encouraged German car companies to make technologically sophisticated cars, cars that will make Germany the go-to country for wealthy Americans in the ‘80s and ‘90s, then the world's biggest luxury car market.

In contrast, French roads were of poorer quality. In the decades after the war, between Germany, UK, Italy, and France – Western Europe’s biggest economic powers – France’s highway network development lagged the most and this also influenced the direction of French carmakers.

Speed was not a priority. Ensuring the farmer’s eggs in his Citroen 2CV don’t break, was.

This is why French cars, at least the older, classic ones, are still some of the most comfortable cars ever made. If you haven’t experience the seats and suspension of a well-maintained ‘80s era Citroen, Peugeot or Renault sedan, you don’t understand what supple ride means.

But between making comfortable suspension and powerful engines, the latter required greater expertise and that kept German technology ahead.

Cosmopolitan worldview

France’s regulations and tax laws made it difficult for French manufacturers to develop cars that were suitable for the international market, especially USA.

It also didn’t help that France is a more inward-looking society versus Germany.

France’s car industry was defined by the rivalry between the Citroen 2CV and Renault 4 – inward looking cheap cars for the French masses, developed according to a horsepower tax, while Germany was increasingly defined by export-oriented high-powered, luxury BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes, with the Porsche 911 thrown in.

Today, Peugeot still relies on Europe for 82 percent of its sales, Citroen 84 percent, DS Automobiles 92 percent.

In contrast, VW looks to Asia for 56 percent of its sales (especially China), North America 9 percent. European sales make up just 28.1 percent.

Renault is a little better, thanks to its partnership with Nissan and stakes in Korea’s Samsung Motors. Asia contributes about 10 percent of Renault’s total sales (including Renault Samsung). Europe contributes about 57 percent, excluding Dacia, Alpine, and Lada.

The limited exposure to markets outside of Europe made French manufacturers slower to adapt to changing global trends in powertrain and body type preference.

It’s also why French cars don’t have competitive petrol engines, because their emphasis is on Euro-centric diesel engines, which in turn hampers their potential outside of Europe.

When USA started moving towards SUVs, BMW ate its own words of never making an SUV, and laid the groundwork for a made-in-USA (Spartanburg) BMW X5.

VW, who has a high exposure to China - which was also seeing increased demand for SUVs - also adapted quickly. It’s also why VW is able to quickly pivot towards electric drivetrains, because that’s very important in China.

When French manufacturers did export its cars, it was mostly to former French colonies in North Africa and neighbouring countries in Central Asia – Iran and Egypt for example, but consumers from these markets have little economic power to demand / influence product development, so French cars didn’t progress to become more international.

The PSA Group tried to expand into China with little success. Sales of Peugeot in China peaked in 2015, with 406,738 units, while Citroen peaked in 2014, with 320,011 units. In 2019, before the pandemic, the Group's total sales in China had dropped to just 117,084 units.

Are French cars less reliable than German?

Yes, Peugeots, Citroens, and Renaults are less reliable than a Toyota or a Honda, but they are no less reliable than a German Volkswagen or BMW.

The difference in ownership experience of Malaysians between Europeans (or North African taxi drivers) is also related to local workshops being unfamiliar with French cars, and supply of French car parts in our part of the world.

Spare parts cost is a function of volume of cars on the road using these parts. So with less French cars on the road, it’s difficult for parts stockists to order them in quantities large enough to sell them cheaply. 

Based on UK’s Warranty Wise data, warranty claims for a Peugeot is same as a German Skoda (it's more German than Czech) and a Japanese Nissan. Citroen is same as a Volkswagen, and Renault is same as a Mazda. Topping the chart are Honda, Lexus, and Toyota.

Unique to Malaysia, there is also another dimension to it, the last two distributors that handled Peugeot – MBf and later Naza (which also represented Citroen) did not help change the negative image of French cars.

Renault’s TC Euro Cars has done a fantastic job in customer care, but the selling points of Euro-centric Renault Koleos and Captur are not appreciated by buyers in this part of the world.

Peugeot is now part of a three-way French-Italian-American alliance called Stellantis, which is looking to expand its Asia Pacific headquarters here.

Peugeot is now represented by Mazda distributor Bermaz. Peugeot’s latest range of 3008 and 5008 SUVs are very competitive products, much better than Renault, but poor perception continue to cast a dark cloud over it.

Also read: The Peugeot 405 was the last great French car sold in Malaysia