Spanning a 200 year history, the Peugeot company is one of the most well known car manufacturing brands from France. Peugeot pre-dates the invention of the car and started off as an industrial company dealing in textiles and metal goods. Perhaps the best known of the original products made by this company (and the first item to carry the infamous Peugeot Lion), was the saw. The lion represented flexibility and quality. In the mid-1800s the company entered into the vehicle business as a result of producing metal parts for dresses; the spokes were also used for newly-invented bicycles. When the combustion engine we know today was invented, Peugeot was quick to start building innovative machines, including bicycles with engines and, eventually, the first Peugeot cars. By 1900, the company was building cars at a rapid pace and Peugeot sales were climbing fast. The company split in order to focus entirely on cars and soon half of all cars manufactured in France were built by this company. After a period of innovation in race car design, Peugeot expanded due to increased manufacturing demands during the First World War. Expansion continued through the lucrative inter-war years, though the invasion of France in WWII put a temporary stop to Peugeot's factories. Shortly afterwards, production started again and for the next 30 years Peugeot continued its growth, taking over Citroen and Chrysler-Europe. Sales took a downturn in the 1990s and the company stopped selling to North America. The current century sees a return to form, as Peugeot uses new technologies to increase efficiency. Nearly new Peugeot models provide many of the new features at a lesser cost, so those looking to buy second-hand will find many models that are friendly to the environment and also cheap to run.