Latil was a French automaker specializing in heavy duty vehicles, such as trucks, agricultural equipment, and buses, from 1898 to 1955. It had factories in

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. S ...

Suresnes Suresnes () is a 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-Malmaison, Saint-Cloud an ...

, and

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

History

In 1897, Auguste Joseph Frederic Georges Latil (1878-1961) patented a

constant-velocity joint Constant-velocity joints (also known as homokinetic or CV joints) are mechanical joints which allow a drive shaft to transmit power through a variable angle, at constant rotational speed, without an appreciable increase in friction or Backlash (e ...

, inspired by the knee's

patella The patella, also known as the kneecap, is a flat, rounded triangular bone which articulates with the femur (thigh bone) and covers and protects the anterior articular surface of the knee joint. The patella is found in many tetrapods, such as m ...

and which allowed wheels used for steering to also be used for driving, now known as

front-wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longit ...

. This unit could be attached to the front of

horse-drawn vehicle A horse-drawn vehicle is a mechanized piece of equipment pulled by one horse or by a team of horses. These vehicles typically had two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers and/or a load. They were once common worldwide, but they have m ...

s. Latil and his friend, mechanic Aloïs Korn, started Korn and Latil Company in

in 1898. Latil patented the design for the front-wheel drive and by the beginning of the 19th century was renting space in

Levallois-Perret Levallois-Perret () is a commune in the Hauts-de-Seine department and Île-de-France region of north-central France. It lies some from the centre of Paris in the north-western suburbs of the French capital. It is the most densely populated ...

near Paris for a company arm called Avant-Train LATIL. In the summer of 1905, financier and polytechnician

Charles Blum Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

joined the team and the three opened the Compagnie Française de Mécanique et d'Automobile. Latil and his brother Lazare focused on company marketing while Blum and Korn handled the more technical side. Salon Niort 2012 (8173245740)

In 1911, the company moved into the niche of

field artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the early 20t ...

haulage Haulage is the business of transporting goods by road or rail between suppliers and large consumer outlets, factories, warehouses, or depots. This includes everything humans might wish to move in bulk - from vegetables and other foodstuffs, to cloth ...

, for which they created tractors with the layout of a truck. Latil also built the first four-wheel,

all-terrain vehicle An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike, or simply a quad, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI); is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is stra ...

called the motorised artillery tractor (TAR), which he sold to the army to use along the

Voie Sacrée The Voie Sacrée ("Sacred Way") is a road that connects Bar-le-Duc to Verdun (Meuse), France. It was given its name because of the vital role it played during the Battle of Verdun in World War I. Use during WWI After March 1916, along the of ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

to supply troops with 155mm guns. Civilians who purchased TARs could be given a 30%

government subsidy A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...

given that their vehicles could be used by the military during warfare. After the war, small handling and hauling companies became the main customers of the TAR. By 1914, demand of Latil's vehicles had increased substantially and they left the Levallois-Perret factories to move into a more spacious building in

. Five years later, Automobiles Industriels Latil - Charles Blum et Cie was founded and the team started building vans, trucks, and

sweepers A street sweeper or street cleaner may refer to a person's occupation or to a machine that cleans streets. Street sweepers have been employed in cities as "sanitation workers" since sanitation and waste removal became a priority. A str ...

rather than front axles as automobile became more common. In 1921, Latil earned a contract from the City of Paris for 100 vehicles to clean the streets and to remove the waste. The company built a garage in Paris by 1925 that could store 100 industrial vehicles that could be put on loan. Blum et Cie became a

public limited company A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth jurisdictions, and the Republic of Ireland. It is a limited liability company ...

in 1928. By 1936, LATIL employed 1,200 people. In 1939, Georges Latil retired and moved to

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

following the death of his wife, and Blum took over as head of the company. During

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, they collaborated with the munitions company MAP and sold tractors under the name MAP-Latil. LATIL planned to continue deeper into production of public administration vehicles, such as firetrucks and tipper trucks.

Mergers

In 1945, the Pons Plan reduced the number of vehicle manufacturers from 28 to seven and Latil was absorbed into the Peugeot Group. In 1955, the company, now called Automobiles Industriels LATIL, was merged with

Somua Somua, an acronym for ''Société d'outillage mécanique et d'usinage d'artillerie'', was a French company that manufactured machinery and vehicles. A subsidiary of Schneider-Creusot, Somua was based in Saint-Ouen, a suburb of Paris. Overview ...

to create

Saviem The Société Anonyme de Véhicules Industriels et d'Équipements Mécaniques (), commonly known by the acronym Saviem (), was a French manufacturer of trucks and buses/coaches part of the Renault group, headquartered in Suresnes, Île-de-France ...

, which was overseen by the CEO Pierre LeMaigre, a former CEO of LATIL. With the creation of Saviem, LATIL no longer existed, but Saviem and Société des Forges et Ateliers du Creusot - Usine Schneider came together to form the Société LATIL BATIGNOLLES, which exclusively manufactured and sold the LATIL TL tractor, the T4T articulated tractor, and ARMAX forklifts. This was the last time the name LATIL was used in the name of a related vehicle manufacturing company.

Vehicles

* Latil TA car (prod. 1897-1899) * Latil M7 models (prod. 1898-1955): M7T1 artillery tractor, M7T1 light all-wheel vehicle, M7Z1 artillery tractor *

Korn et Latil The Korn et Latil was a French automobile manufactured from 1901 until 1902. The Korn et Latil Company of Marseille formed in 1898 produced a front wheel drive voiturette with a 3½ hp Aster engine. It was designed by Georges Latil, who later becam ...

car (prod. 1901-1902) * Latil TP carrier tractor (1913-1921) * Latil TAR models (1913-?): TAR 1917 artillery tractor, TAR 1920 carrier, TAR 1920 forest plateau, TAR H2 artillery tractor * Latil TL tractor (1921-?) * TOURAND-LATIL plows * LATIL type TL tractor * 11 HP van * M2 A1 B3

References

Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of France Defunct truck manufacturers Defunct bus manufacturers Artillery tractors Bus manufacturers of France Truck manufacturers of France French companies established in 1898 1898 establishments in France 1955 disestablishments in France 1955 mergers and acquisitions Motor vehicle manufacturers of France Fire service vehicle manufacturers Construction equipment manufacturers of France Military vehicle manufacturers {{Commons category, Latil vehicles Manufacturing companies of France

History

Mergers

Vehicles

See also

References