Heuliez was a French company that worked as a production and design unit for various automakers. It specialized in producing short series for niche markets, such as convertibles or station-wagons.
Business activity ended on 31 October 2013. The company’s plant and buildings have been taken over by the “Fabrique régionale du Bocage”, a quasi-company which has the regional government of Poitou-Charentes as its majority share-holder.
History
Heuliez was created in 1920 by Adolphe Heuliez, who started by making horse-drawn carts. As early as 1925, he assembled his first car, a Peugeot 177B. He also created a subsidiary company for the production of buses, which was later sold in 1980 and trades as Heuliez Bus.
Toward the end, however, the main product of Heuliez was the retractable roof made for the Peugeot 206 CC, with 350,000 units being produced. It also produced entire cars, such as the Opel Tigra. Since 1985, Heuliez has produced more than 450,000 cars, with a staff of over 2,000.
Poor sales of the Tigra forced Heuliez to reduce its staff by 541 and Opel asked Heuliez to reduce its output from 200 to 50 cars/day until the end of 2006.
In October 2007, Heuliez asked for protection from creditors.[1] In July 2008, Argentum Motors committed itself to investing 10 million Euros in the business, with a further 10 million Euros during the ensuing five years, in return for 60% of the company’s capital, but the agreement was not followed through.
The main production plant is located in Cerizay in the Deux-Sèvres département. The president of Heuliez is Paul Quéveau.
In 2010, Heuliez went out of the convertible rooftop-making business, and the electric vehicle elements were acquired by Franco-German group Baelen Gaillard Industrie-ConEnergy-Kohl and was renamed Mia electric which itself ceased business in 2014.
Production
Citroën BX Station Wagon (1985–1994)
Citroën Visa Chrono (1984)
Citroën Visa Mille Pistes (1984)
Citroën Visa Convertible (1984)
Citroën BX 4TC (1986)
Citroën CX Break (1989–1991)
Citroën XM Break (1992–2000)
Citroën Xantia Break (1995–2001)
Opel Tigra Twin Top (2004–2009)
Peugeot 206 CC (2000–2007)
Peugeot 604 Limousine (1978–1984)
Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 (T16) road cars
Renault 5 Turbo
Electric vehicles
Heuliez Friendly, becoming Mia electric[2]
Heuliez Pondicherry, neighborhood all-electric urban pick-up prototype.
Concept-cars
Simca 1501 coupé
Citroën GS cabriolet
Renault Fuego cabriolet
Citroën BX Dyana (break de chasse, 1986)
Citroën BX coupé
Citroën AX Evasion (mini break à 7 places)
Peugeot 309 break
Peugeot 405 coupé
Citroën ZX cabriolet
Citroën XM palace
Citroën XM limousine
Lamborghini Pregunta supercar
Peugeot 407 Macarena
Peugeot 607 Paladine (Limousine Landaulet Présidentielle)
Concept-cars – cars design
MATRIX SCALE MODELS – CITROEN – SM MASERATI ESPACE HEULIEZ 1972
NEO SCALE MODELS – PEUGEOT – 604 LIMOUSINE HEULIEZ 1978
MATRIX SCALE MODELS – CITROEN – CX HEULIEZ CORBILLARD HEARSE – FUNERAL CAR – CARRO FUNEBRE – 1979
Marpytoys – Citroen ZX Cabriolet
UNIVERSAL HOBBIES – CITROEN BX BREAK 16RS 1986 POSTES POSTE PTT
Miniroute – Citroen BX Break Evasion Vigili del fuoco
NEO SCALE MODELS – CITROEN – XM BREAK VERSION 1 1989
Minicar Plus – Citroen XM Break
PARADCAR – CITROEN XM BREAK
MACADAM PLUS – CITROEN XM BREAK Vert
STARTER – Citroën Xantia Break (1995-2000)
Original MINIATURE – Citroen XM Presidential Limousine
PMC-MODEL – CITROEN – XM LIMOUSINE
LABEL 43 Citroen Xm Heuliez Présidentielle 1993
YOW MODELLINI – Heuliez Pregunta 1998
MINICARS43 – PEUGEOT – 607 PALADINE PRESIDENTIAL – NICOLAS SARKOZY (FRANCE)
UNIQUE REPLICAS – OPEL – TIGRA TWINTOP – CABRIOLET COUPE
gamas43 