Latil

Latil was a French automaker specializing in heavy duty vehicles, such as trucks, agricultural equipment, and buses, from 1898 to 1955.[1] It had factories in Paris, Suresnes, and Marseille.[1][2]

Automobiles Industriels LATIL
Formerly
  • Korn and Latil Company
  • Compagnie Française de Mécanique et d'Automobile
IndustryHeavy duty vehicles
Founded1898 in Marseille, France
FounderGeorges Latil
Aloïs Korn
Defunct1955
FateMerged with Somua and Renault Poids Lourds to become Saviem
Headquarters
Marseille
,
France
Area served
France

History

In 1897, Auguste Joseph Frederic Georges Latil (1878-1961) patented a constant-velocity joint, inspired by the knee's patella and which allowed wheels used for steering to also be used for driving, now known as front-wheel drive.[3][1][4] This unit could be attached to the front of horse-drawn vehicles.[1][5]

Latil and his friend, mechanic Aloïs Korn, started Korn and Latil Company in Marseille in 1898.[5] Latil patented the design for the front-wheel drive and by the beginning of the 19th century was renting space in Levallois-Perret near Paris for a company arm called Avant-Train LATIL.[5] In the summer of 1905, financier and polytechnician Charles Blum joined the team and the three opened the Compagnie Française de Mécanique et d'Automobile.[5][1][4] Latil and his brother Lazare focused on company marketing while Blum and Korn handled the more technical side.[5]

Pre-WWI Latil truck

In 1911, the company moved into the niche of field artillery haulage, for which they created tractors with the layout of a truck.[1] Latil also built the first four-wheel, all-terrain vehicle called the motorised artillery tractor (TAR), which he sold to the army to use along the Voie Sacrée during World War I to supply troops with 155mm guns.[4][6][7][5] Civilians who purchased TARs could be given a 30% government subsidy given that their vehicles could be used by the military during warfare.[5][1] After the war, small handling and hauling companies became the main customers of the TAR.[6]

By 1914, demand of Latil's vehicles had increased substantially and they left the Levallois-Perret factories to move into a more spacious building in Suresnes.[5] Five years later, Automobiles Industriels Latil - Charles Blum et Cie was founded and the team started building vans, trucks, and sweepers rather than front axles as automobile became more common.[5]

In 1921, Latil earned a contract from the City of Paris for 100 vehicles to clean the streets and to remove the waste.[5] The company built a garage in Paris by 1925 that could store 100 industrial vehicles that could be put on loan.[5] Blum et Cie became a public limited company in 1928.[5] By 1936, LATIL employed 1,200 people.[5] In 1939, Georges Latil retired and moved to Nice following the death of his wife, and Blum took over as head of the company.[5] During World War II, they collaborated with the munitions company MAP and sold tractors under the name MAP-Latil.[1] LATIL planned to continue deeper into production of public administration vehicles, such as firetrucks and tipper trucks.[5]

Mergers

In 1945, the Pons Plan reduced the number of vehicle manufacturers from 28 to seven and Latil was absorbed into the Peugeot Group.[1][5] In 1955, the company, now called Automobiles Industriels LATIL, was merged with Somua to create Saviem, which was overseen by the CEO Pierre LeMaigre, a former CEO of LATIL.[5][4] With the creation of Saviem, LATIL no longer existed, but Saviem and Société des Forges et Ateliers du Creusot - Usine Schneider came together to form the Société LATIL BATIGNOLLES, which exclusively manufactured and sold the LATIL TL tractor, the T4T articulated tractor, and ARMAX forklifts.[5] This was the last time the name LATIL was used in the name of a related vehicle manufacturing company.[5]

Vehicles
A forest tractor made by Latil in 1937.
  • Latil TA car (prod. 1897-1899)[8]
  • Latil M7 models (prod. 1898-1955): M7T1 artillery tractor, M7T1 light all-wheel vehicle, M7Z1 artillery tractor[9]
  • Korn et Latil car (prod. 1901-1902)[10]
  • Latil TP carrier tractor (1913-1921)[7][11]
  • Latil TAR models (1913-?): TAR 1917 artillery tractor, TAR 1920 carrier, TAR 1920 forest plateau, TAR H2 artillery tractor [6][12]
  • Latil TL tractor (1921-?)
  • TOURAND-LATIL plows[5]
  • LATIL type TL tractor[5]
  • 11 HP van[5]
  • M2 A1 B3[5]

See also

References
  1. Roberts, Justin (2022-01-01). "Machinery: Georges Latil and the constant velocity joint". Agriland. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  2. Doyle, G.R. (1931). The Worlds Automobiles. London: Temple Press Limited. p. 94.
  3. "Les voitures automobiles anciennes et les véhicule anciens de collection, v2". Antiq Broc de La Tour. n.d. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  4. "BIRTH OF GEORGES LATIL". ARQUSS. n.d. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  5. "HISTOIRE DES VEHICULES LATIL" (in French). Automobiles Industriels Latil. n.d. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  6. "LE FORMIDABLE TAR LATIL!" (in French). Foundation de l'automobile Marius Berliet. n.d. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  7. Harel, Véronique (2010-08-01). "OBJET DU MOIS - AOÛT 2010 - CAMION LATIL" (in French). Verdun Meuse. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  8. "LATIL CAR type TA (1899-1901)". Automobiles Industriels LATIL. n.d. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  9. "Latil M7". ScaleMates. n.d. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  10. "Korn et Latil". All Car Index. n.d. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  11. "TRACTEUR PORTEUR LATIL TP". Automobiles Industriels LATIL. n.d. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  12. "Latil TAR H2 (TARH / FTARH)". Kfz der Wehrmacht. n.d. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
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