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 construction ...

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 manufactured ...

group, headquartered in

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 ...

Île-de-France , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 = +01:00 , timezone1_DST = CEST , utc_offset1_DST = +02:00 , blank_name_sec1 = Gross regional product , blank_info_sec1 = Ranked 1st , bla ...

. The company was established in 1955 by merging Renault heavy vehicle operations 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 ...

and

Latil 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, Suresnes, and Marseille. History In 1897, Auguste Joseph Frederic Georges Latil ( ...

and disappeared in 1978 when was merged with former rival

Berliet Berliet was a French manufacturer of automobiles, buses, trucks and military vehicles among other vehicles based in Vénissieux, outside of Lyon, France. Founded in 1899, and apart from a five-year period from 1944 to 1949 when it was put into 'ad ...

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 Blainville-sur-Orne (, literally ''Blainville on Orne'') is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Geography Blainville-sur-Orne is on the west side of the Canal de Caen à la Mer, just south of Bé ...

(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,

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

. 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

and

. 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 (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 Perkins is a surname derived from the Anglo-Saxon corruption of the kin of Pierre (from Pierre kin to Pierrekin to Perkins), introduced into England by the Norman Conquest. It is found throughout mid- and southern England. Another derivation com ...

engines), unveiled at the Paris Motor Show. In January 1961, Saviem took control of the bus manufacturer

Floirat 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 ...

, based at

. That year, Saviem signed a cooperation agreement with

Henschel-Werke Henschel & Son (german: Henschel und Sohn) was a German company, located in Kassel, best known during the 20th century as a maker of transportation equipment, including locomotives, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, and armoured fighting vehicle ...

. In 1962,

Pierre Dreyfus Pierre Dreyfus (18 November 1907, Paris — 25 December 1994, Paris) was a high French civil servant who in 1955 became a wealthy businessman. Between 1947 and 1955, he occupied senior administrative positions in the Ministry of Industry and Comm ...

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. S ...

area to

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 larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

. From 1963 to 1977, Saviem cooperated with

MAN A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromos ...

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 Avia Motors s.r.o. is a Czech automotive manufacturer. It was founded in 1919 as an aircraft maker, and diversified into trucks after 1945. As an aircraft maker it was notable for producing biplane fighter aircraft, especially the B-534. Avia ...

. In 1975 Saviem, together with DAF,

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 Magirus GmbH is a truck manufacturer based in Ulm, Germany, founded by Conrad Dietrich Magirus (1824–1895). It was formerly known as Klöckner Humboldt Deutz AG, maker of the Deutz engines, so the brand commonly used was Magirus Deutz, and fo ...

(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 o ...

) 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 Sinpar was a French automobile company which was originally founded in 1907 and then restarted in 1946 by Léon Demeester.https://www.la4ldesylvie.fr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=354 The company before World War I built voiturettes ...

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 Sofim ( it, Società franco-italiana di motori) is a joint diesel engine enterprise established between Fiat, Saviem (Renault) and Alfa Romeo on 13 September 1974 and was bought by Iveco in 1981. The manufacturing plant is located in Foggia in s ...

) 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 known ...

, 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 Beginning in May 1968, a period of civil unrest occurred throughout France, lasting some seven weeks and punctuated by demonstrations, general strikes, as well as the occupation of universities and factories. At the height of events, which h ...

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

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 la ...

group. In 1978, Berliet and Saviem were merged to form

(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 sma ...

* Saviem Super Goélette * Saviem H *

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 The Saviem JL was a range of heavy/medium trucks manufactured by the French manufacturer Saviem, a subsidiary of Renault. Characteristics The Saviem JL range was based on the JL range from Somua. The JL was initially powered by engines from Alfa ...

*Saviem JM *Saviem P *

Saviem S The Saviem S is a range of medium-duty trucks manufactured by the French manufacturer Saviem between 1964 and 1967. History The S range was introduced in 1964 and originally consisted of two models using the 710 cab: the Saviems S5 (5-tonne paylo ...

* Saviem SM

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