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Automobiles Industriels Latil, commonly known as Latil, was a French manufacturer of commercial and military vehicles created to manage the assets of the defunct Compagnie Française d'Mecánique et d'Automobiles, to market Georges Latil's avant-train Latil, an early front-wheel drive system. The company was established in 1909 by entrepreneur Charles Blum as Charles Blum & Cie. It started to use Automobiles Industriels Latil in the 1910s as a trading name. The company started to produce military vehicles by the 1910s and commercial ones in great numbers by the end of World War I. In 1928, the company adopted its trading name as its legal name. It was dissolved in 1955 after being merged into the Saviem group.

History

Early years and predecessors

In 1898, Georges Latil and Aloïs Korn established an enterprise in Marseille (Korn et Latil) to market a Latil invention, the avant-train Latil, a kit to convert carriages into front-wheel drive vehicles. In 1901, Latil and Korn moved its operations to Levallois-Perret and created the Compagnie Française d'Mecánique et d'Automobiles to sell it in Paris. Despite an initial success, the company was declared bankrupt. By 1905, Charles Blum became an investor and administrator of the company's assets. In 1909, he took over the assets and created a new company called Charles Blum & Cie. to manage them. He kept Georges Latil and his brother Lazare as part of the technical managing team. In June 1912, the company was reorganised as a société en commandite par actions and renamed Charles Blum & Cie S.C.A., later trading as Automobiles Industriels Latil. That same year, Blum established another company to operate a fleet of vehicles equipped with the avant-train Latil. In 1914, Latil opened a new, larger production plant in Suresnes to replace Levallois-Perret. The Suresnes plant had 20,000 square metres (m) of covered area in a site of 30,000 m.

World War I and market expansion

By 1911, the company started to develop field artillery haulage, for which they created tractors with the layout of a truck. Latil produced one of its first four-wheel, all-terrain vehicle called the TAR, which it sold to the army to use on the Voie Sacrée during World War I to supply troops with 155 mm guns.

After the war, the company also fully entered into the commercial vehicle business, including trucks. In 1924, it unveiled the first of the TL series of four-wheel drive multipurpose tractors.

Late interwar years and World War II

In November 1928, all the Latil group companies were merged into Charles Blum & Cie S.C.A. which became a société anonyme and was renamed as Automobiles Industriels Latil.

In the 1930s, Latil introduced diesel engines using Gardner licence for direct injection. The company also opened a second plant at Saint-Cloud.

During World War II, it collaborated with the ammunitions company MAP and sold tractors under the name MAP-Latil. After the occupation of France, the Latil plants produced vehicles for the Wehrmacht and only escaped Allied bombing because they were in densely populated areas. In October 1944, Blum, being a French Jew, died exiled in New York.

Final years and merger

In 1945, the Pons Plan reduced the number of vehicle manufacturers from 28 to seven and Latil was made part of the Peugeot-led grouping.

After World War II, the company found it increasingly difficult to compete with its larger rivals. In 1948, it simplified its forward control range by introducing the H14 and H16 A1s, with a shared cabin, standardised components and using mostly just a couple of engines with Gardner licence.

In 1955, Latil was combined with the heavy vehicles division of Renault and with Somua to form Saviem. The Blum family and other stockholders kept shares in the new company until it became a wholly owned Renault subsidiary in 1959. The Latil truck range was gradually phased out, initially being sold as Latil and then briefly as Saviem-LRS and Saviem.

Following the merging, Latil's TL tractor range was also sold as Latil and then as Saviem. In 1962, the licence for the tractors' production was sold to the Creusot-Loire conglomerate, which marketed them as the Latil Batignolles.

Latil in the UK

Latil's British subsidiary, Latil Industrial Vehicles Ltd., was established in 1924. Up to 1932, Latil's products were imported from France. From 1932 to either 1937 or 1939, Latil licensed local assembly (mostly Latil's all-wheel drive tractors) to Shelvoke and Drewry. From late 1933 onwards, British-assembled Latil tractors were marketed as Latil Trauliers.

After World War II, Latil's tractors in the UK were partially assembled by US Concessionaires Ltd. The British assembled tractors usually changed the original engines for local ones, mostly Meadows units.

Products

Commercial vehicles

Tractors and military vehicles

1911–1928

• TI (light tractor)
• U (light tractor)
• TP (cargo tractor, 4x4 commercial truck, armoured truck)
• TH (heavy artillery tractor, commercial tractor/truck)
• TAR ( heavy artillery tractor, commercial tractor)
• TAR 2
• TAR 3
• Tourand-Latil (self-propelled plow/tractor)
• TL (agricultural and forestry tractor, hauler tractor, medium artillery tractor, rangefinding for anti-aircraft units hauler)

1928–1945

• F SPB4 (military truck)
• TAR 4
• TAR 5
• F TAR
• AMD Latil (prototype scouting armoured car)
• TAR H1 (heavy tractor prototype)
• JTL (agricultural and forestry tractor, hauler tractor)
• KTL (agricultural and forestry tractor, hauler tractor, medium artillery tractor)
• GTL (prototype artillery tractor)
• M7 T1 (light infantry, liaison and reconnaissance tractor)
• M7 Z1 (light artillery tractor)
• M2 TL6/M3 TL6/H4 TL6 (multipurpose tractor, military tractor)
• M2 TZ (medium artillery and military transport tractor)
• N (chenillette tractor)
• TAR H2 (heavy artillery and workshop tractor)
• M2 TX (prototype heavy workshop tractor)
• MAN AS250 (German MAN agricultural tractor assembled by Latil from 1943 onwards, as MAN focused exclusively on military vehicles. After the war, it was briefly marketed as Latil AS250)
• TL7-RR (rail/route tractor)

1945–1955

• H4 TL9 (agricultural and forestry tractor)
• H14 TL10/H11 TL10 (agricultural and forestry tractor,multipurpose tractor)
• M17 T1 (prototype light truck and staff vehicle)
• M18 T2 (4x4 military truck)
• TRPZ (6×4/6x6 tractor/truck)

References

1. ^ Annuarie Desfossés 1937, Paris: Desfossés Financial Information Agency, 1938, pp. 824–825
2. ^ "Si l'historie de Latil" [If the Latil history...]. La Lettre (in French). No. 162. Paris: Fondation Berliet. December 2013.
3. ^ Loubet, Jean-Louis (1999). L'industrie automobile, 1905–1971 [The automotive industry, 1905–1971] (in French). Droz. pp. 188–189. ISBN 2-600-00317-7.
4. ^ Roberts, Justin (2022-01-01). "Machinery: Georges Latil and the constant velocity joint". Agriland. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
5. "BIRTH OF GEORGES LATIL". ARQUSS. n.d. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
6. "LE FORMIDABLE TAR LATIL!" (in French). Foundation Berliet. n.d. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
7. ^ Fieux, Loïc (2008). "Saviem". Camions d'Hier et d'Aujourd'hui (in French). No. 10. Paris: Histoire et Collections. pp. 36–38. ISSN 1961-0203.
8. ^ Vauvillier, François; Touraine, Jean-Michel; Jeudy, Jean-Gabriel (1992). L'Automobile Sous l'Uniforme 1939–1940 [The Car in Uniform 1939–1940] (in French). Editions Ch. Massin. pp. 66, 72, 76, 116, 153, 159, 182, 193, 208, 218–219, 222. ISBN 2-7072-0197-9.
9. ^ Colombet, Jean-François (1995). "Les Latil H14 et H16 A1" [The Latils H14 and H16 A1]. Charge utile (in French). No. 25. Paris: Histoire et Collections. pp. 26–28. ISSN 1266-8508.
10. Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute 67, United States Naval Institute, 1941, p. 1333
11. Loubet, Jean-Louis (1990). "Les grands constructeurs privés et la reconstruction. Citroën et Peugeot 1944–1951" [The big private manufacturers and the Reconstruction. Citroën and Peugeot 1944–1951]. Histoire, économie & société (in French). 9 (3). Armand Colin: 451. doi:10.3406/hes.1990.1555. ISSN 1777-5906.
12. Greve, Jean François (2007). "Stratégies d'enterprise et action publique". In Moguen-Toursel, Marine (ed.). Firm strategies and public policy in integrated Europe (1950–1980): confrontation and learning of economic actors. Peter Lang. pp. 197–231. ISBN 978-90-5201-045-8.
13. Kuipers, J. F. J. (1972). A history of commercial vehicles of the world. Oakwood Press. p. 82. ISBN 0-85361-114-9.
14. ^ Colombet, Jean-François (2020). "Saviem 1960–1961". Charge utile (in French). No. Hors-série 100. Paris: Histoire et Collections. pp. 52, 71. ISSN 1266-8508.
15. ^ Stevens-Stratten, S.W (2019). British Lorries 1900–1945. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4456-9451-1.
16. Blenkinsop, Mike; Blenkinsop, Julie (May 2022). "The Latil (Part Two)". Heritage Commercials. Yalding: Kelsey: 44. ISSN 1476-2110.
17. ^ Cotton, L. J. (1949). "'Roughing it on' with a four-wheel drive tractor". The Commercial Motor. Vol. 89, no. 2305. London: Temple Press. ISSN 0010-3063.
18. ^ Delanghe, G. (1931). "Le XXV Salon de l'Automobile véhicules industriels" [The XXV automotive Salon, commercial vehicles]. Le Génie civil (in French). Vol. 99, no. 26. Paris. pp. 650–651. ISSN 0016-6812.
19. ^ "Le Salon du poids lourd" [The heavy vehicles Salon]. Revue industrielle (in French). Vol. 59. Paris. 1929. pp. 5–7. ISSN 0370-5684.
20. Delanghe, G. (1933). "Le XXVII Salon de l'Automobile véhicules industriels" [The XXVII automotive Salon, commercial vehicles]. Le Génie civil (in French). Vol. 103, no. 20. Paris. pp. 474–475. ISSN 0016-6812.
21. Delanghe, G. (1922). "Le XVIII Salon de l'Automobile et du Cycle" [The XXVII Salon of self-propelled vehicles]. Le Génie civil (in French). Vol. 81, no. 19. Paris. pp. 413–414. ISSN 0016-6812.
22. Le tracteur routier Latil type 'GPB3T' [The Latil prime mover GPB3T] (in French), Suresnes: Latil, 1934
23. Latil GPB3 surbaissé [The lowered Latil GPB3] (in French), Suresnes: Latil, 1934
24. Latil 5,800 kg (in French), Suresnes: Latil, 1934
25. Latil chassis rapide 8 cylindres specialment realisé pour autobus autocar type V3 A B3 [Fast chassis especially made for bus/coach, V3 A B3 type] (in French), Suresnes: Latil, 1934
26. Camionnette M1B [M1B light truck] (in French), Suresnes: Latil, 1934
27. "Blum-Latil à Lyon" [Blum-Latil at Lyon]. L'Auto (in French). Vol. 20, no. 7021. Paris. 1920. ISSN 0016-6812.
28. Latil 9,500 kgs (in French), Suresnes: Latil, 1934
29. Le camion rapide type SPB3 [The fast truck SPB3] (in French), Suresnes: Latil, 1934
30. Le véhicule special pour livraisons journalières rapides chassis type 'GPB' [The special vehicle for fast daily deliveries, chassis GPB] (in French), Suresnes: Latil, 1934
31. La camionnette Latil type 'GPB2' [The light truck Latil GPB2] (in French), Suresnes: Latil, 1934
32. Le chassis 'travaux publics' 4.5 tonnes Latil type 'GPB3' court [The public works chassis 4.5 tonnes Latil GPB3 short] (in French), Suresnes: Latil, 1934
33. Chassis 12 tonnes avec moteur 8 cylindres type V3 Y10 Latil [Latil's 12 tonnes chassis with a 8-cylinder engine, V3 Y 10] (in French), Suresnes: Latil, 1934
34. Latil types FB6 et H1B6 semi-remorque [Latils FB6 and H1B6 semi-trailer] (in French), Suresnes: Latil, 1935
35. Liste des châssis Latil [Latil chassis list] (in French), Suresnes: Latil, 1953
36. Tracteurs routiers, Suresnes: Latil, 1954
37. ^ Vauvillier, François (June–July 2007). "Les tracteurs d'artillerie à quatre roues motrices. II - Latil, le pérenne" [Four-wheel drive artillery tractors. II - Latil, the perennial]. Guerre, Blindés et Matériel (in French). No. 77. Paris: Histoire et Collections. pp. 70–72. ISSN 2492-1297.
38. "Les camions et tracteurs Latil" [Latil's tractors and trucks]. Omnia (in French). Vol. 17, no. 17. Paris. 1921. pp. 371–372. ISSN 1149-2171.
39. ^ Touzin, Pierre (1979). Les Véhicules Blindés Français, 1900–1944 [The French Armoured Vehicles, 1900–1944] (in French). Éditions EPA. p. 27, 64. ISBN 2-85120-094-1.
40. Contet, A. (1919). "Le charrue Tourand-Latil" [The self-propelled plow Tourand-Latil]. Camions et tracteurs: supplément mensuel de la Vie automobile (in French). Vol. 3, no. 13. Paris: Dunod. p. 26. ISSN 1149-2198.
41. Delanghe, G. (1924). "Le XIX Salon de l'Automobile" [The XIX Salon]. Le Génie civil (in French). Vol. 85, no. 22. Paris. pp. 491–493. ISSN 0016-6812.
42. Le tracteur léger Latil type 'TL6' [The TL6 light tractor] (in French), Suresnes: Latil, 1935
43. ^ "Latil et les militaires : des talents multiples… mais toujours en série limitée" [Latil and the military: multiple abilities… but always in limited series] (in French). French Federation - Military Vehicle Conservation Group. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
44. "MAN AS250". fahrzeugseiten.de (in German). Retrieved 17 August 2023.
45. ^ Vanderveen, Bart (1989). Wheels & Trucks Historic Military Vehicles Directory. Battle of Britain Prints International. pp. 85–86. ISBN 0-900913-57-6.
46. Kochnev, Evgeniy Dmitrievich (2006). Энциклопедия военных автомобилей 1769–2006 [Encyclopædia of Military Vehicles 1769–2006] (in Russian). Za Rulem Publishing. p. 263. ISBN 5-9698-0040-6.

• Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of France
• Defunct truck manufacturers
• Defunct bus manufacturers
• Artillery tractors
• Bus manufacturers of France
• Truck manufacturers of France
• French companies established in 1909
• 1909 establishments in France
• 1955 disestablishments in France
• 1955 mergers and acquisitions
• Motor vehicle manufacturers of France
• Fire service vehicle manufacturers
• Construction equipment manufacturers of France
• Military vehicle manufacturers
• Manufacturing companies of France