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Berliet
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| Defunct |
Berliet was a French manufacturer of automobiles, trucks and other utility vehicles.
Marius Berliet started his experiments with automobiles in 1894. Some single cylinder cars were followed in 1900 by a twin-cylinder model. In 1902, Berliet took over the plant of Audibert & Lavirotte in Lyon. Berliet started to build four-cylinder automobiles featured by a honeycomb radiator and steel chassis frame was used instead of wood. The next year, a model was launched that was similar to contemporary Mercedes. In 1906, Berliet sold the licence for manufacturing his model to the American Locomotive Company.
Before World War I, Berliet offered a range of models from 8 CV to 60 CV. The main models had four-cylinder engines (2412 cc and 4398 cc, respectively) and there was a six-cylinder model of 9500 cc. A 1539 cc model (12 CV) was produced between 1910 and 1912. From 1912, six-cylinder models were made upon individual orders only.
In 1917, Berliet started to build trucks for the French Army. The company produced 40 trucks a day.
After the war, 12 CV (2613 cc), 15 CV (3308 cc) and 22 CV (4398 cc) were produced. A new 7 CV (1159 cc) appeared in 1924. New six-cylinder models followed in 1927. From 1933, only four-cylinder models (1600cc and 2000cc) were offered.
The last Berliet model from 1936 was Berliet Dauphine propelled by a 2-litre engine.
Passenger car production ceased in 1939 and after World War II, the company produced trucks only.
In 1967, Berliet was taken over by Citroën.
