How one man destroyed French luxury car makers.
Well, one man and the socialist and communist dominated postwar government.
While the Great Depression and World War II couldn’t kill off France’s great luxury car makers like Delahaye, Talbot, and Bugatti, France’s socialist and communist dominated postwar government and one man, Paul-Marie Pons, put them on the road to extinction. After the war France had 22 companies making automobiles and another eight making commercials and military vehicles. The central planners in the government decided those were too many and mandated a rationalization plan crafted by Pons. Companies would be assigned market segments. The government also enacted significantly higher displacement based taxes.
Large companies like Citroen and Renault had the resources and political clout to pretty much ignore what became known as the Pons Plan while smaller makers like Panhard got the bone end of the drumstick. Luxury makers like Delahaye got hit with the double whammy of the Pons Plan and the displacement tax, which pretty much killed them in their own domestic market.
By the mid 1950s, Bugatti and Delahaye, which made some of the greatest cars ever, cars that continue to win awards, were gone.
For a more complete look at how Paul-Marie Pons helped killed France’s great luxury automobile makers, you can read my article on the topic over at Hagerty. https://www.hagerty.com/media/automotive-history/how-one-man-destroyed-french-luxury-car-makers/
Pardon my French, but FUCK THAT GUY.