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Peugeot 604
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The Peugeot 604 was an executive car produced by the French manufacturer Peugeot from 1975 to 1985. 153,252 examples of the 604 were sold during its 10-year production life. It was made in France and also by Kia in Korea .
The Pininfarina-designed 604 was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1975, with sales beginning in September of that year. Based on the chassis of the Peugeot 504, using its doors, and mostly powered by the then-new 2.7 V6 PRV engine, developed in conjunction with Renault and Volvo, the car was Peugeot's first entry into the large luxury sedan market for 40 years (the last being the short-lived Peugeot 601 of 1934).
The 604 was effectively Peugeot's first entry into the executive class market segment.
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The Peugeot 604 was an executive car produced by the French manufacturer Peugeot from 1975 to 1985. 153,252 examples of the 604 were sold during its 10-year production life. It was made in France and also by Kia in Korea .
The Pininfarina-designed 604 was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1975, with sales beginning in September of that year. Based on the chassis of the Peugeot 504, using its doors, and mostly powered by the then-new 2.7 V6 PRV engine, developed in conjunction with Renault and Volvo, the car was Peugeot's first entry into the large luxury sedan market for 40 years (the last being the short-lived Peugeot 601 of 1934).
The 604 was effectively Peugeot's first entry into the executive class market segment. This meant that the car had to steal customers from marginally more established brands - usually by being remarkable in some tangible respect.
The 604 was a commercial failure. Contemporary journalists attributed this to a variety of reasons, such as the unambitious styling (the doors and central section were taken from the 504 to save on development and industrial costs), the lack of technical innovation, modest performance, and a reputation for problems with rust.
During the late 1970s, Peugeot and stablemate Citroën were bickering over how to address the executive car segment - understated and anonymous with sketchy build quality (604), or distinctive and avant-garde with sketchy build quality (CX).
PSA Peugeot Citroën then decided to create a whole new brand, the Talbot out of the Chrysler Europe assets, and introduce a direct competitor to the 604 and CX, the 1980 Talbot Tagora. Both the car and the brand were a sales and financial disaster, with the Tagora selling only 20% of the units achieved by the 604 and 2% of CX sales.
The German manufacturers did not hesitate to exploit this confusion in France, with cars like the 1974 BMW 5-Series (which also entered a segment new for the manufacturer) that had relatively good build quality. German cars created an unassailable position in the executive class auto market during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Germans were not challenged again until Japan addressed this segment 15 years later.
France has had not much success internationally in the executive segment after the Citroën DS's successor, the Citroën CX. The 604-era was perhaps the last point at which PSA Peugeot Citroën could theoretically have focused resources on becoming a viable long term competitor in this lucrative market segment. Today, Peugeot still makes large vehicles like the Peugeot 607, primarily for domestic fleet use. This is similar to the situation encountered in the US by the Lincoln Town Car.
The 604 was introduced during the recession caused by the 1973 energy crisis, which created a marketplace that was even more unfriendly to large-engined cars in France. Peugeot did launch some detuned economy versions of the 604, but they did not increase the car's overall sales.
The 604 did get its name into the history books in 1978 as the first production turbodiesel car, using the 2304 cc Indenor Diesel engine with a turbo fitted - designation XD2S.
Sales, which were never particularly strong, dipped further in 1980 following the launch of the 505, and the last 604 rolled off the production line in 1985. Peugeot's next major executive car, the 605, was launched in 1989.
Timeline
- 1975 - 604 launched, in one specification, the 604 SL. Price on launch was FFr44,700 for the four-speed manual transmission version, and FFr44,700 for the three-speed automatic version.
- 1977 - 604 is launched in US in V6 SL trim.
- 1978 - 604 Ti model with Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection and turbodiesel model introduced. Modified gearbox ratios on standard 604. Ti not available in US.
- 1979 - Petrol filler cap changed to square. 2.3 turbodiesel model introduced, the first turbodiesel in Europe. Import of petrol model to US discontinued.
- 1980 - New rear-view mirror, bonnet badge removed, indicators changed to orange, new plastic dashboard and gearstick. Limited edition luxury "Grand Comfort" model with power windows, sunroof, etc also made available.
- 1981 - 604 STi introduced. Existing one diesel model replaced with two different specifications, GRDT and SRDT. Total body immersion anti-corrosion treatment introduced across entire range. Turbo diesel exported to US.
- 1982 - 604 SL discontinued.
- 1984 - 604 GTi introduced with 2.8 litre engine. New GTDT diesel model introduced. US sales discontinued after 1984.
- 1985 - 604 production ends. Its replacement, the front wheel drive Peugeot 605, arrives in 1989.
Engines
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