Groupe Ligier

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Groupe Ligier
legal form Société Anonyme
founding 1969
Seat Abrest , FranceFranceFrance 
management
  • François Ligier, PDG
Number of employees 225
sales EUR 125 million
Branch Automobile manufacturer
Website www.ligier.fr

Groupe Ligier, SA (formerly Automobiles Ligier ), based in Abrest, is a French automobile manufacturer with the Ligier and Microcar brands . The company has been active in the automotive industry since 1969 and previously also in automotive sports. After initially mainly producing sports vehicles, the company has now specialized entirely in light vehicles with electric and combustion engines .

Between 1976 and 1996 the company took part in the Formula 1 world championship as " Équipe Ligier " .

history

In 1969 the company founded by Guy Ligier began building the JS1 sports car (1969–1970 with a Ford engine). This car was never built in series. The vehicles were tailored for racing use, but some were also approved for road use. Ligier named all sports and racing cars in memory of his friend Jo Schlesser, who died in 1968, after his initials. The JS2 followed in 1970 with a Ford engine and from 1972 with the Maserati engine, which was also used in the SM luxury coupé, also manufactured by Ligier from 1972 on behalf of Citroën . With the JS2, the Ligier works team finished the 1975 Le Mans 24-hour race in second place overall.

In 1980 Ligier began to build a new pillar with the production of light vehicles with electric or internal combustion engines . This two-seater cars may partly without a license or with a moped license, new with driving license be driven "Class S" or "T".

Under the leadership of Guy's son, Philippe, the competitor Microcar was purchased in April 2008 with the support of 21 Centrale Partner, a private equity fund managed by Alessandro Benetton , which took over the majority of the capital from the Ligier family in this transaction. In 2012, Guy's grandson, François Ligier, took over management of the company.

In August 2016, 21 Centrale Partners withdrew from the company, their stake being taken over by several financial investors.

Model range

A range of small car models with Lombardini two-cylinder common-rail diesel engines or electric motors are offered under the Ligier and Microcar brands .

Ligier has also been active in the commercial vehicle sector since 2010, currently with light vehicles from the Pulse, Flex and Be Sun model series, each with a diesel or electric motor. In 2014, Easymile , a joint venture with partner company Robosoft, was founded in Toulouse to develop and market the autonomous electric minibus EZ-10 built by Ligier .

photos

  • Ligier JS2

  • Ligier JS2

  • Ligier JS4

  • Ligier series 7

  • Ligier Nova

  • Ligier X-TOO

  • Ligier X-TOO R

  • Ligier Be Two

  • Ligier Flex

  • Autonomous bus EasyMile EZ10

Motorsport

The 1979 Ligier JS11 at the 2008 Goodwood Festival of Speed

From 1976 to 1996 Ligier had a racing team that was involved in the Formula 1 World Championship. The team contested 325 Formula 1 races and scored nine wins. It was one of the most successful teams in the late 1970s. With the beginning of the turbo era, however, the performance decreased. After a few changes of ownership, Alain Prost took over the racing team in 1996 and continued it from 1997 to 2001 under the name Prost Grand Prix .

In 2005 Ligier returned to motorsport: In cooperation with Automobiles Martini , racing cars were again produced with the Ligier JS49 (French V-de-V series) and Ligier JS47 (Formula 3) models . Since 2014, OnRoak Automotive has been offering the JS P2, a vehicle for the LMP2 class, which is used by customers under the name Ligier in the ELMS , WEC and the American USCC .

Web links

Commons : Ligier Vehicles  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Siparex entre chez Ligier Group. Press article on the occasion of the last change of ownership. Les Echos, August 24, 2016, accessed on October 26, 2016 (French).
  2. ↑ a b Guy Ligier, une vie à 100 à l'heure. Press article on the death of Guy Ligier. Les Echos, August 17, 2015, accessed on October 26, 2016 (French).
  3. ^ Voitures sans permis: Bénéteau cède Microcar à Ligier. Ouestfrance, April 1, 2008, accessed October 26, 2016 (French).