The Société Anonyme de Véhicules Industriels et d'Équipements Mécaniques (), commonly known by the acronym Saviem (),
was a French manufacturer of
truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...
s and
buses/coaches part of the
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...
group, headquartered in
Suresnes
Suresnes () is a Communes of France, commune in the western suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. Located in Hauts-de-Seine, from the centre of Paris, it had a population of 49,145 as of 2016. The nearest communes are Nanterre, Puteaux, Rueil-Malmais ...
,
Île-de-France
The Île-de-France (, ; literally "Isle of France") is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France. Centred on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the country and often called the ''Région parisienne'' (; en, Pa ...
. The company was established in 1955 by merging Renault heavy vehicle operations with
Somua and
Latil and disappeared in 1978 when was merged with former rival
Berliet to form
Renault Véhicules Industriels
Renault Trucks is a French commercial truck manufacturer with corporate headquarters at Saint-Priest near Lyon. Originally part of Renault, it has been a subsidiary of the Volvo Group since 2001.
From its beginnings in 1978 to 2002, the comp ...
.
The company initially had various factories for vehicle production around France (mainly at the
Paris area) which came from its predecessors and
Chausson, but it soon centred assembly on
Blainville-sur-Orne (trucks) and
Annonay
Annonay (; oc, Anonai) is a commune and largest city in the north of the Ardèche department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It is the most populous commune in the Ardèche department although it is not the capital ...
(buses and coaches). Saviem formed partnerships with other manufacturers, leading to technology-sharing agreements.
History
Early years
At the end of 1946,
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...
abandoned the production of heavy trucks in view of its financial troubles, and the company lost the position of France's market leader which it had before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. However, the rapid development and production concentration on that sector made Renault to seek ways to enter into the market. In 1950, the Renault's technical chief, Fernand Picard, elaborated a plan to launch a limited range of trucks and buses with a single 105
CV engine, taking advantage of the economies of scale, which proved unsuccessful. In 1953, the strategy was changed and Renault decided to acquire rival manufacturers, starting with
Somua and
Latil.
The company Saviem was formed in October 1955 by the merger of Renault's trucks and buses manufacturing operations with Somua and Latil
[ and both ]Schneider
Schneider may refer to:
Hospital
* Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel
People
* Schneider (surname)
Companies and organizations
* G. Schneider & Sohn, a Bavarian brewery company
* Schneider Rundfunkwerke AG, the former owner of th ...
(owner of Somua) and the Blum family (owner of Latil) had stakes in the new company.[ Initially, the Saviem name was added besides the existing badges of the three forming companies but, from 1957 onwards, Saviem-LRS appeared as marque's name on the company's products (the acronym representing the former marques Latil, Renault and Somua), which was simplified to Saviem in 1960.] In 1959, Saviem became a whole-owned subsidiary of Renault. The early range of the company consisted of small commercial vehicles derived of Renault's existing models (Goélette and Galion), new medium and heavy trucks with Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." ...
engines[ and Chausson support for the coach/bus production. With an aggressive market approach focussed in volume rather than quality, Saviem became the leader by sales in France.][
]
New vehicles and partnerships
During the early 1960s the company introduced a renovated JL heavy and medium duty trucks range with a revised design,[ new buses and coaches][ and, in 1964, a S range of medium duty trucks (with Renault and Perkins engines), unveiled at the Paris Motor Show.] In January 1961, Saviem took control of the bus manufacturer Floirat, based at Annonay
Annonay (; oc, Anonai) is a commune and largest city in the north of the Ardèche department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It is the most populous commune in the Ardèche department although it is not the capital ...
. That year, Saviem signed a cooperation agreement with Henschel-Werke. In 1962, Pierre Dreyfus decided to expand the European partnerships of Saviem and the company received a large capital amount from the French State for recapitalisation and modernisation. It also got the Limoges factory, which manufactured diesel engines. Between 1963 and 1966, Saviem moved most of its production from the Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
area to Blainville-sur-Orne and Annonay.[ In 1967, the Blainville-sur-Orne factory produced 26,000 large goods vehicles and the Annonay factory 1,777 buses/coaches. In 1965, Saviem acquired the French ]heavy equipment
Heavy equipment or heavy machinery refers to heavy-duty vehicles specially designed to execute construction tasks, most frequently involving earthwork operations or other large construction tasks. ''Heavy equipment'' usually comprises five e ...
manufacturer Richard-Continental in a bid to compete with Caterpillar
Caterpillars ( ) are the larva, larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterfly, butterflies and moths).
As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawfly ...
.
From 1963 to 1977, Saviem cooperated with MAN of Germany (in 1967 such cooperation was expanded). As part of the agreement Saviem supplied cabs and in return MAN supplied axles and engines. The result of this was the launch of the SM (Saviem-MAN) and JM[ truck ranges in France. Renault also introduced the Super Galion, in partnership with Avia.][ In 1975 Saviem, together with ]DAF
Daf ( fa, دف) also known as Dâyere and Riq is a Middle Eastern (mainly Iranian) frame drum musical instrument, used in popular and classical music in South and Central Asia. It is also used in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbe ...
, Volvo
The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
and Magirus-Deutz (soon after to become a part of Iveco
IVECO, an acronym for Industrial Vehicles Corporation, is an Italian multinational transport vehicle manufacturing company. It designs and builds light, medium, and heavy commercial vehicles. The name IVECO first appeared in 1975 after a merger ...
) became co-founder of the Club of Four
The Club of Four was an alliance of four European truck manufacturers: Saviem, Volvo, DAF, and Magirus-Deutz.
Officially called the Société Européenne de Travaux et de Développement (ETD), the team was based in Paris. Founded to develop a sha ...
cooperation to produce medium-sized trucks.[ At the same time, Saviem signed an agreement with DAC in Romania to provide engines for their new 6135. The same year Saviem also acquired Sinpar and completed, together with ]Fiat
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
and Alfa Romeo, the construction of a joint production facility for engines ( Sofim) in Foggia
Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also know ...
, Italy, at a cost of .
In January 1968, the main Saviem factory at Blainville-sur-Orne was the setting for one of the first workers' protests that led to the French May.
Merger with Berliet
As a result of companies' reorganisation and a French State decision of unifying the heavy vehicle production in France, in 1975 Renault also acquired the truck and bus manufacturer Berliet from the Michelin
Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and ...
group. In 1978, Berliet and Saviem were merged to form Renault Véhicules Industriels
Renault Trucks is a French commercial truck manufacturer with corporate headquarters at Saint-Priest near Lyon. Originally part of Renault, it has been a subsidiary of the Volvo Group since 2001.
From its beginnings in 1978 to 2002, the comp ...
(RVI).[ Again, the old marque names were retained for two more years while the model lineups gradually were assimilated, and in April 1980 they were replaced by the name Renault, putting an end to the Saviem badging. In 1977, its last year as a separate company within Renault, Saviem manufactured 35,059 buses/coaches and trucks.][
]
Facilities
Vénissieux and Saint-Ouen
Vénissieux[ and Saint-Ouen] were Somua factories. Vénissieux continued producing trucks until 1962.[ Saint-Ouen assembled engines][ until that activity was completely transferred to Limoges in 1964] and later auto parts.
Suresnes and Saint-Cloud
Suresnes and Saint-Cloud were Latil factories.[ Suresnes slowly ceased production but was kept as the head office and research and development base for the company.][
]
Argenteuil
The Argenteuil factory was a former Chausson bus/coach facility operated by Saviem since 1960. It produced parts for both Saviem and Chausson.[
]
Annonay
The coach/bus factory since 1961, originally part of Floirat and Isobloc.[
]
Blainville-sur-Orne
Built in 1956 on the former Cahen shipyards, Blainville was the only truck factory owned by Saviem from 1966 onwards.[
]
Limoges
In May 1964, the French government donated to Saviem the Limoges factory, a manufacturing facility for aircraft engine parts. Limoges became the main engine assembly location of the company.[
]
Lyon
Saviem-owned Richard-Continental had two factories in Lyon.[
]
Models
Trucks and light commercial vehicles
* Saviem/Renault Galion[
* Saviem/Renault Goélette][
*]Saviem Super Galion
The Saviem Super Galion is a truck under 6 tonnes gross vehicle weight (GVW) produced by the French manufacturer Saviem between 1965 and 1982. It was also marketed as the Renault Super Galion.
History
In 1957, Saviem introduced the Galion, a ...
* Saviem Super Goélette[
*]Saviem H
The Saviem H was a range of medium/heavy trucks manufactured by the French manufacturers Saviem and Renault Véhicules Industriels between 1977 and 1980.
Characteristics Dimensions
The cab used for the H range was the 875, an extended version of ...
*Saviem J
The Saviem J was a range of medium-duty trucks manufactured by the French manufacturers Saviem and Renault Véhicules Industriels between 1975 and 1980.
History
In the early 1970s, DAF, Magirus-Deutz, Volvo and Saviem formed the Club of Four to ...
* Saviem JL[
*Saviem JM]
*Saviem P[
* Saviem S][
*]Saviem SM
The Saviem SM was a range of medium trucks produced by the French manufacturer Saviem between 1967 and 1975.
History
At the end of 1967, as part of an extended partnership with the German MAN, Saviem introduced the SM (Saviem-MAN) ranges. They ...
[
]
Buses and coaches
*Saviem R-series
*Saviem ZR 20[
*Saviem-Floirat ZF 20][
*Saviem SC (Saviem-Chausson) 1/2/5][
*Saviem SC10][
*Saviem S45]
*Saviem S53[
*Saviem S105][
*Saviem E5]
*Saviem E7[
]
Military trucks
* Saviem SM8 TRM 4000
References
External links
History of Saviem, Berliet and Renault buses
{{Renault
Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of France
Truck manufacturers of France
Defunct bus manufacturers
Suresnes