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Salmson is a French engineering company. Initially a
pump A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes Slurry, slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic or pneumatic energy. Mechanical pumps serve in a wide range of application ...
manufacturer, it turned to automobile and aeroplane manufacturing in the 20th century, returning to pump manufacturing in the 1960s, and re-expanded to a number of products and services in the late 20th and into the 21st century. It is headquartered in
Chatou Chatou () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the ÃŽle-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France. Chatou is a part of the affluent suburbs of western Paris and is on the northwest ...
and has production facilities in Laval. It has subsidiaries in Argentina, Italy, Lebanon, Portugal, South Africa and Vietnam.


History

It was established by Émile Salmson (1858-1917) as Emile Salmson, Ing. as a workshop in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
(1890), making steam-powered compressors and centrifugal pumps for
railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
and
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
purposes. Subsequently, joined by engineers George Canton and Georg Unné, it was renamed Emile Salmson & Cie, building
petrol Gasoline (North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When formul ...
-powered lifts and motors (1896). The company became one of the first to make purpose-built aircraft engines, starting before World War I and continuing into World War II. After World War I the company looked around for other work and started making car bodies and then complete cars. Car production finished in 1957. Focus also moved back to pump production and the facilities moved to
Mayenne Mayenne ( ) is a landlocked department in northwest France named after the river Mayenne. Mayenne is part of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Il ...
in 1961. The firm was bought by ITT- LMT in 1962 then by
Thomson Thomson may refer to: Names * Thomson (surname), a list of people with this name and a description of its origin * Thomson baronets, four baronetcies created for persons with the surname Thomson Businesses and organizations * SGS-Thomson M ...
in 1976 and by Wilo in 1984. Its headquarters today are in
Chatou Chatou () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the ÃŽle-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France. Chatou is a part of the affluent suburbs of western Paris and is on the northwest ...
.


Aircraft manufacture

It moved to Billancourt and manufactured the Salmson 9 series of air- and water-cooled radial engines. During
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
Salmson made its first complete aeroplanes, mainly the two-seat fighter/reconnaissance plane, the Salmson 2A2. These were used in combat by both the French and the American Expeditionary force. The company also designed a prototype of a single seat scout/fighter, the Salmson 3, but this was not produced in large quantities. Salmson aircraft were also used for
air mail Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be the ...
to
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
in (1911). Aeroplane manufacturing moved to
Villeurbanne Villeurbanne (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. It is situated northeast of Lyon, with which it forms the heart of the second-largest metropolitan area in France ...
near
Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
. Two world records were set by Maryse Bastié, who flew
Le Bourget Le Bourget () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. The commune features Le Bourget Airport, which in turn hosts the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace (Air and Space Museum). A very ...
to
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
(1931).


Aircraft

* Hanriot HD.3 * Hanriot H.26 * Hanriot H.31 * Hanriot H.33 * Salmson-Moineau A92H * Salmson-Moineau S.M.1 * Salmson-Moineau S.M.2 * Salmson 1 A.3 (3-seat Artillery Spotter) * Salmson 2 A.2 (2-seat Artillery Spotter) * Salmson 2 Berline (Transport version of 2 A.2) * Salmson 2 de l'Aéropostale * Salmson 3 C.1 (Single-seat fighter) * Salmson 4 Ab.2 (
ground attack aircraft An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pres ...
;) * Salmson 5 A.2 (2-seat Artillery Spotter) * Salmson 6 A.2 (2-seat Artillery Spotter) * Salmson 7 A.2 (2-seat Artillery Spotter) * Salmson 16 A.2 (2-seat Artillery Spotter) * Salmson D-1 Phrygane (1934) * Salmson D-2 Phrygane * Salmson D-3 Phryganet * Salmson D-4 Phrygane Major * Salmson D-6 CriCri (1936) * Salmson D-7 CriCri Major * Salmson D-21 Phrygane * Salmson D-211 Phrygane * Salmson D-57 Phryganet


Aero engines

Aero engines produced up to 1917 are shown in the following table:


Salmson post World War One engines

In common with several other French aero-engine manufacturers Salmson named their engines with the number of cylinders then a series letter in capitals followed by variant letters in lower-case. Engines not included in the 1932 table are listed here: ;3 Ad: ;5 Ac: ;5 Ap-01: ;5 Aq-01: ;6 Ad:? ;6 TE: ;6 TE.S: ;7 Aca: ;7 Aq: ;7 M: ;7 Om: ;8 As: ;9 AB: ;9 ABa: ;9 ABc: 172 kW (230 hp) ;9 Az: ;9 A2c: ;9 M: ;9 Nd: 131 kW (175 hp) ;9 P: ;9 Y: ;11 B: ;12 C: W-12 ;18 AB: ;18 Cm: ;18 Z: * Salmson 11 B * Salmson 12 C W-12 *
Salmson 18 Ab Salmson is a French engineering company. Initially a pump manufacturer, it turned to automobile and aeroplane manufacturing in the 20th century, returning to pump manufacturing in the 1960s, and re-expanded to a number of products and services ...
* Salmson 18 Cm * Salmson 18 Z ;Salmson-Szydlowski SH18: Salmson air-cooled engines available in 1932 are tabled here:


Car manufacture

The Billancourt factory became the car manufacturing plant directed by Emile Petit. As the firm had no direct car design expertise they started by building the British GN
cyclecar A cyclecar was a type of small, lightweight and inexpensive motorized car manufactured in Europe and the United States between 1910 and the early 1920s. The purpose of cyclecars was to fill a gap in the market between the motorcycle and the c ...
under licence, displaying six cars at the 1919 Paris Salon. In 1922 the car part of the business became a separate company, named Société des Moteurs Salmson. The first Salmson car proper used a four-cylinder engine designed by Petit with unusual valve gear: a single pushrod actuated both inlet and exhaust valves pushing to open the exhaust and pulling to open the inlet. This was used in the AL models from 1921. Later the same year the company built its first twin-overhead-cam engine, which was fitted to the 1922 D-type, although most production at first used the pushrod engine. Models included:


Early models

*AL (cyclecar, 1920) *D-type (1922) *VAL3 (1922) *AL3 (1923) *GSC San Sebastian *Gran Sport (GS, 1924–30) *2ACT (1926) Salmson won 550 automobile races and set ten world records (1921–28) before closing the racing department in 1929.


S-series models

The ''S''-series cars took over from the D-type, starting in 1929 and becoming a long lived series. *S4 (1929–32) *
S4C S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speakin ...
(1932) * S4D (1934) * S4DA (1935–38) * S4-61 (1938–51) * S4E (1938–51)


Post-War

* 2300 Sport Coupe (1953 to 1957) After
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
the Salmson Typ S4E and Salmson Type S4-61 were re-introduced. Initially, as before the war, they were in most respects mutually indistinguishable from the outside apart from the slightly longer nose on the Type S4-E. The Type S4-61 retained its four-cylinder in-line 1,730 cc engine. The standard body was a four-door sedan/saloon, 4510 mm in length for the four-cylinder car and 4610 mm with the larger engine. As well as the sedan/saloon there was a four-seater two-door coupe version of the S4-61 although this variant represented barely 10% of the post-war S4-61‘s total sales. A few two-door cabriolets were produced. In October 1947 a substantially updated body appeared for the Type S4-E, featuring more flamboyant wheel arches and lowered headlights, now set into the body work rather than perching above the front wings. The revised frontal treatment also quickly found its way onto the coupé and cabriolet variants, making the 13CV (2312cc) S4-E easier to distinguish from the 10 CV (1730cc) S4-61 than hitherto. Like France's other luxury car makers, Salmson sales suffered from a government taxation policy that penalised cars with large engines and a French economy which during the five-year period from 1945 to 1950 resolutely failed to show significant signs of growth. Overall volumes were depressed. Nevertheless, the 336 cars produced in 1948 – split between the 10CV and 13CV cars in a ratio of approximately 2:1 – did provide grounds for cautious optimism when compared to the 1947 volume of just 143 cars built. In 1950 a new car arrived in the shape of the Randonnée E-72. Car sales nevertheless continued to be slow in the postwar market. The company's passenger car production reached a postwar peak of 1,162 in 1950, but by 1952 had slumped to just 89. The company had been kept going by its aircraft engine sales, although the factory had to close for a period. A new car, the 2300 S, was shown in 1953 and it took part in the 1955, 1956 and 1957 Le Mans 24-hour racesAmicale Salmson
''www.amicale-salmson.org'', accessed 13 December 2022
After bankruptcy in 1953, all activities ended in 1957 and
Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...
bought the factory.


See also

* British Salmson *
List of aircraft engines This is an alphabetical list of aircraft engines by manufacturer. 0–9 2si *2si 215 *2si 230 *Cuyuna 430, 2si 430 *2si 460 *2si 500 *2si 540 *2si 690 3W ''Source: RMV'' *3W 106iB2 *3W-110 *3W-112 *3W-170 *3W-210 *3W-220 A Aba ...


References

{{Defunct aircraft manufacturers of France Engineering companies of France Defunct aircraft manufacturers of France French companies established in 1890 French brands Car manufacturers of France Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of France Defunct aircraft engine manufacturers of France Technology companies established in 1890