Renault-Peugeot Automotive

A merger between Peugeot-Fiat and Renault, two old Terran automotive companies, Renault-Peugeot were independent entities until the Succession Wars caused too much damage to Renault, which was forced into a merger by their board of directors. The new corporate entity played their cars as close as possible to their chest in staying out of the various power struggles of the Inner Sphere and beyond, investing as much as possible in “non-military hardware” for cost-conscious civilians and other corporate entities. As the Jihad once again hurt their bottom line after a few decades of good returns, Peugeot-Renault has started back production of heavier military equipment.

Renault and Peugeot during the Star League Era

Both Renault and Peugeot were companies that were well-established on Terra before the galactic expansion, and their corporate offices had already began opening major regional offices as the Hegemony grew and led to the formation of the Star League. Both companies were fully independent at the time and each of them tried to expand into new markets not already saturated by other car and hovercar makers. Peugeot’s corporate office on Taurus, established after the Reunification War, was often the target of ridicule by the more “Spheroid” offices, but it became a symbol of pride for the Taurian people as one of the last major manufacturers allowed to operate in the region without strict guidelines from the Star League, which trusted Peugeot.

Things started going downhill for Renault, which was more concentrated in the Terran Hegemony, during the Amaris Coup, as most production quotas and such moved from “consumer goods” to “military goods” for the regime, and while Renault was happy to still produce weapons and such, the constant infighting between the Amaris forces and Kerensky forces led to the death of a lot of their personnel and destruction of multiple facilities, with neither parties wanting to pay reparation for the damage dealt to their company. Peugeot also purchased a commanding share around this time into Ford automobile and their Ford Military Limited division, securing a commanding lead in the civilian vehicle market.

Succession War and merger

Peugeot was riding a wave of good fortune at the start of the first succession war as their industrial base and trade empire remained unaffected by the worst of it. While they suffered a loss of sales of automotive vehicles, the increase in sales of light and medium vehicles and parts made up for most of it. On the other hand, Renault had invested heavily in their facilities on Wasat which produced the Flashman battlemech along with other military and consumer goods, which was destroyed in 2796. This led to a crisis of leadership within the company, which was already operating with such slim margins that this loss could spell the destruction of the business. Peugeot turned around quickly and made a rather beneficial offer to Renault, purchasing most of their debt and merging the two companies into a “mega-conglomerate”, with promises that both companies would steer clear of politics as much as possible.

With major facilities in 2 or 3 of the Successor States, Renault-Peugeot was a “safe passage” business between the major states, even in times of war, as they were viewed as “essential” by all parties involved. Tractors, ground vehicle, basic industrialmechs, all those things were essential to the war effort, but also to the mere survival of the population. While during heated periods of the Succession Wars the automotive company kept its head low, as soon as trade reopened, they had massive stocks to move in and out of any location which required them. With the help of Travelers and their own jumpship fleet, Renault-Peugeot effectively kept themselves trading for as long as they possibly could.

Clan Invasion and the loss of satellite offices

The next “big hit” the corporation took was the loss of many of their coreward satellite offices when the Operation REVIVAL began in earnest. RPA had begun investing significantly in the Rasalhague after the chaos of the Ronin War ended, and this push did cause them to lose more than they had expected a war between either the Lyrans or Combine would cause. Negotiations with Clan Ghost Bear and Clan Wolf Merchant Caste to recover the facilities never went anywhere, the best Peugeot-Renault was able to do is guarantee that their locations would not be damaged and that their patents would be respected.

These losses led the conglomerate to start moving a significant part of its production to the Free Worlds League and Federated Suns Rimward regions, same with investing more in their Taurus facilities, in association with New Vanderburg. Facilities recovered from Clan Smoke Jaguar during Operation BULLDOG were put back into service as soon as it was possible, striking quick agreements with Clan Nova Cat when possible. Corporate security at these facilities was reinforced, but no “major investment” was done to shore them up to pre-Invasion era numbers.

FedCom Civil War era

RPA served as another corporate “safeguard” during the Civil War era as they demanded concessions from both the Lyrans and Federated sides to ensure free trade would remain open for their goods and services between both nations, while also providing spare parts and equipment to both sides in terms of armored equipment and engineering equipment. The Dieron office also grew during this era as a “stopgap” office which traded with all parties, including the Clans. Renault also got the license for production of their own Flashman battlemech back from Defiance, and new facilities were built to produce this ‘mech and others for “private service” and sales to other non-governmental companies.

Jihad

Things were on an upswing for Renault-Peugeot until the Jihad entered full swing, with both ROM and Word of Blake agents targeting and eliminating their scientists and skilled technicians in fear that they would star working with “the other party”. Governmental ingerence also reached an all-time high, with many production plants being forced to produce war materiel even though they were not meant to. Those production plants also suffered sabotage and destruction from all forces involved, but it was the destruction of Gibson which pushed RPA over the edge at the end of the Jihad, leading to them taking a more aggressive “corporate protection” trend afterwards.

Republic Era and Dark Age, RPA Militarized

The Republic of the Sphere requested the various political powers within the Inner Sphere demilitarize, an order which was generally followed with a shrug and lies. Renault-Peugeot Automobile clearly did not want to follow such order and began investing in strengthening their security force to prevent any “unwarranted damage” to their business and installations. Installations on Dieron, Taurus and New Syrtis were retooled to include full Battlemech production lines disguised as IndustrialMech facilities. While RPA would be using these ‘mechs first, production started to outgrow their internal needs, with the supplemental units being moved to other corporate owners and companies to strengthen their own corporate defense forces. RPA also was able to purchase the shell of two Tatsumaki-class which they refurbished by the end of 3112 with the assistance from Clan Ghost Bear and Clan Snow Raven, with whom RPA traded production runs of some of their successful ground cars for their labor, merchant and scientist caste members. As the Dark Age began after Gray Monday, corporate contingencies quickly kicked in, leading to massive investment in communications equipment and ships to bring messages between important offices, even paying massive amounts to have HPG facilities repaired on their own dime by “skilled but unnamed individuals” on Dieron, Taurus, New Syrtis and New Earth.

Production

Dieron

Dieron is the biggest individual facility for Renault-Peugeot Automotive as of 3152. The facility was under Word of Blake occupation during most of the Jihad, with RPA not being compensated for its usage.

Andurien

The Andurien facility was heavily damaged during the Jihad and was rebuilt with additional fortification.

Taurus

Facilities on Taurus were heavily damaged during the Jihad and rebuilt in association with other Taurian industrial powers.