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| Industry | Conglomerate |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1945 |
| Founders | Jean-Luc Lagardère Marcel Chassagny |
| Defunct | 2003 |
| Fate | Bankruptcy |
| Headquarters | , France |
| Products | Automobiles,aeronautics and weaponry |
Matra (anacronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a major French industrialconglomerate. Its business activities covered a wide range of industries, notablyaerospace,defence,automotive,motorsports,transport andtelecommunications.
Following the acquisition of vehicle manufacturerAutomobiles René Bonnet, the company foundedMatra Automobiles during the 1960s, which produced a limited range of racing and sports cars. Its car division worked closely with other vehicle manufacturers, most significantlyRenault, prior to the decline and sale of Matra Automobiles during the early 2000s. In addition to road cars, Matra entered into a wide range of businesses, eventually diversifying intomedia, weaponry, aeronautics, automobiles, and music distribution.
Matra was at one point owned by theFloirat family. Throughout much of the company's existence, French businessmanJean-Luc Lagardère was theCEO of Matra. In 1988, Matra wasprivatised; Lagardère's stake in the company grew considerably over the following years.
In 1994, Matra became asubsidiary of theLagardère Group and in February 1999,Matra Hautes Technologies (MHT), which represented the conglomerate's aerospace, defence and telecommunications arm, was merged with the French aerospace corporationAérospatiale to formAérospatiale-Matra (nowAirbus). Several former assets of Matra continue to operate under the Lagardère name.
Privatization, bleeding through the Lagardère Group, sell-off of its profitable enterprises, and failure of its automotive division caught up and Matra went bankrupt in 2003.
During 1945, Matra (Mécanique Aviation Traction) was established, immediately beginning development of an ambitious twin-engine aircraft intended to be the fastestpropeller-driven plane in the world.[1] In 1951, thesound barrier was broken in horizontal flight for the first time in Europe by an aircraft using a Matra-built engine. During 1961, Matra became involved in the early European space programme, having been appointed as the first prime contractor forsatellites.[1]
During 1963, French businessmanJean-Luc Lagardère was appointedCEO of Matra; he would be a key figure at the company for the following three decades. At the time of Lagardère's appointment, the firm had a workforce of 1,450.[1] During 1964, Matra became the owner of car manufacturerAutomobiles René Bonnet.[2] For a time, Matra was largely centred around its vehicle division,Matra Automobiles. However, within a decade, Matra had sold its road car division to American-owned car manufacturerChrysler Europe, having shifted focus onto its other growing business activities.[2]
During the 1970s, Lagardère pursued an overall strategy of merging Matra with various other companies, or acquiring them outright, to build up aconglomerate under the Matra brand. Throughout the 1970s, the company strengthened and grew its position within the aerospace sector, which had been viewed as a core business of Matra.[2] One such company was the electrical equipment manufacturer Électronique Moderne de l’Oise, which became Matra Électronique following its acquisition during 1975.[3] That same year, theNational Centre for Space Studies (CNES) and theEuropean Space Agency (ESA) awarded a contract to Matra for the loading bay of the newArianeexpendable launch system.[1]
Over several decades, Matra diversified intomedia, weaponry, aeronautics, automobiles, music distribution, and various other state of the art technologies. During 1981, Matra ventured into media activities via the purchase of theHachette publishing company.[2] Matra invested in several fields of transportation during the 1980s and 1990s. It produced a fiberglass 14 ft sailingdinghy with an innovative double-bottom, self-bailing hull, called "Capricorne". Though several hundred were sold and a class association briefly existed, it was unable to gain much market share against the better establishedInternational 420.[citation needed] During 1983, Matra launched an automatic (driverless) lightrubber-tyredmetro, theVéhicule Automatique Léger.[1] It later attempted to produce apersonal rapid transit system, which it named "Aramis".[citation needed] Matra also manufactured a range ofelectric bicycles andelectric scooters.[4]Matra i-step Runner, Tourer and Force as well asMatra i-flow inRomorantin.[citation needed] Matra developed and released apersonal computer, theAlice.
Matra, along withHarris Corporation, attempted to position itself as a leading semiconductor operation in Europe, establishing Matra-Harris Semiconducteurs (MHS) in 1979. Starting with Harris'CMOS fabrication process and targeting high-performance, high-volume niches, the company diversified into microprocessors and gate arrays, finally recording a profit in 1984.[5] To supply its microprocessor production, MHS secured a licensing agreement with Intel in 1981 for the production of Intel's 8086, 8088, 8051 and 8052 families using anNMOS process, alongside Harris' 80C86 and 80C88 parts. The company also manufactured memory product designs fromCypress Semiconductor.[6] Consolidation in the European semiconductor industry sawAEG acquire 50% of MHS in 1989.[7]
During 1988, Matra wasprivatised, at which point Lagardère acquired six per cent of the company's stock; by 1992, his stake in Matra had risen to 25 per cent.[citation needed] That same year, the Lagardère Group was radically restructured; acquiring more shares in Matra from Floirat, Daimler Benz and GEC, and Hachette from Floirat, Crédit Lyonnais and Aberly. Lagardère merged Matra and Hachette to form Matra Hachette, of which the Lagardère Group held 37.6 per cent.[8] Following a share swap in 1994, Lagardère held 93.3 per cent of Matra Hachette's stock. During 1996, Matra Hachette was formally merged into the Lagardère Group.[citation needed]
In February 1999, the firm's defence wing, Matra Hautes Technologies, was merged with French aerospace conglomerateAérospatiale to formAérospatiale-Matra.[9] During 2003, following poor financial performances within the sector, Matra Automobiles becamebankrupt and its assets were sold off once more. Instead, Matra decided to concentrate its resources on its remaining interests within the media and aerospace sectors.[2]
Matra had been involved in car manufacturing since the acquisition ofAutomobiles René Bonnet in 1963.[2] The first road car to be sold under the Matra marque was theRenault-poweredMatra Djet (pronounced "jet"), which was an update of the Bonnet Jet; the Djet was subsequently replaced with the Matra 530,Bagheera, theMurena and theRancho, an early type ofsport utility vehicle (SUV).[citation needed] At its peak, Matra Automobiles was manufacturing 60,000 vehicles per year at its plant inRomorantin-Lanthenay.[10]
Lagardere, recognising the promotion value of themotorsport sector for garnering sales, decided that the company ought to be involved, leading to the creation ofEquipe Matra Sports, which entered the FrenchFormula 3 during 1965.[2] Throughout the mid-1960s, Matra enjoyed considerable success in Formula 3 andFormula 2 racing with its MS5monocoque-based car, winning both the French and European championships. Matra competed as a constructor inFormula One from1967 to1972[11] and as an engine supplier between1975 and1982,[12] winning the Drivers' and Constructors' championships in1969.[13][14] Matra also competed insports car racing from 1966 to 1974 winning the24 Hours of Le Mans outright in1972,[15]1973[15] and1974[15] and theWorld Championship for Makes in1973 and1974.[16] However, at the end of the 1974 season, Matra announced that it had decided to withdraw from all motorsport involvement.[2]
During the early 1970s, Matra sold its car division toAmerican-owned car manufacturerChrysler Europe.[2] Matra Automobiles was subsequently sold by Chrysler Europe to French car companyPeugeot; during 1983, Lagardere arranged to buy the division back. Shortly thereafter, a strategic partnership was formed between Matra and French vehicle companyRenault, leading to the development of theEspaceminivan.[2]
During 1984, the Matra-built Espace was launched onto the market; this car proved to be a commercial success over multiple decades.[10] Due to this success, this single vehicle type became extremely impactful to the fortunes of Matra Automobiles. Following on from the first generation of the Espace, Matra Automobiles went on to manufacture the next two generations as well; however, the fourth iteration was manufactured inhouse by Renault instead. The loss of the Espace business quickly proved detrimental to the firm's finances.[10][2]
During 2001, production of theRenault Avantime, which was co-designed and built by Matra Automobiles, commenced; this vehicle did not sell well and was widely regarded as a failure.[10] By the early 2000s, Matra was reportedly keen to end its involvement with the automotive industry. Following the discontinuation of the Avantime, on 27 February 2003, Matra Automobiles announced its intention to close its Romorantin vehicle factory just one month later.[10] The dismantling of the division was necessitated by Matra Automobiles having been declaredbankrupt.[10]
During September 2003,Pininfarina SpA acquired Matra Automobile's engineering, testing and prototype businesses; the company was subsequently named Matra Automobile Engineering.[10] On 13 January 2009, Pininfarina sold its share in Matra Automobile Engineering toSegula Technologies.
Matra Hautes Technologies (MHT) was the defence arm of the firm. The division was involved inaerospace, defence andtelecommunications.
During 1990, Matra Espace and the aerospace division of British electronics specialistGEC Marconi merged, creatingMatra Marconi Space; the company had claimed this entity to have been the leading aerospace company in the European market at the time.[17] Six years later, Matra Défense and British missile manufacturerBAe Dynamics merged to formMatra BAe Dynamics, a leading weapons manufacturer in Europe as well as the third largest in the world at the time.[8] During February 1999, MHT merged with French aerospace conglomerateAérospatiale to formAérospatiale-Matra. On 10 July 2000, Aérospatiale-Matra merged withSpanish aircraft companyCASA andGerman aerospace firmDASA to become part ofEADS, which subsequently became theAirbus Group.[9]
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