Matra

Mécanique Avión Traction or Matra is a French company that covers a wide range of activities, mainly related to aeronautics and armament, which today (as of August 2005) operates under the name Lagardère Group.

Matra was owned by the Floirat family. The name Matra became famous in the 60s, when they began their automobile production by acquiring the company Automobiles René Bonnet. Matra Automobiles manufactured sports and racing cars, achieving great sporting successes.

Through successive mergers, Matra's CEO, Jean-Luc Lagardère, built a diversified group around the company with a presence in media, high technology, aeronautics and previously even in automobiles, and manufacturing and distribution of audio supports, activities already abandoned. A big step was the acquisition of Hachette and the merger with WEA-Filippachi in 1981. In 1992, Matra and the two aforementioned companies merged to give rise to Matra Hachette Filippachi. Currently (August 2005) the group is called Groupe Lagardère (fr. Groupe Lagardère) and Matra remains one of its brands.

Matra Hautes Technologies (Matra High Technologies)

Matra Hautes Technologies (MHT) was the military technology arm of Matra. The company was dedicated to aerospace, defense and telecommunications technology. In February 1999 MHT merged with Aérospatiale; the resulting company was called Aérospatiale-Matra. On July 10, 2000, Aérospatiale-Matra joined the European EADS consortium.

Business structure (prior to the merger with Aérospatiale)

• Matra Défense
• Matra Systèmes & Information
• Matra BAE Dynamics (50% owned by British Aerospace)
  Created in 1996, Matra BAe Dynamics joined the BAe missile business (BAE Dynamics) and half of Matra Défense. The other half continued as Aérospatiale Matra Missiles.
• Matra Marconi Space (49% owned by General Electric)
  Matra Espace was the division of space technologies (cohetes, satellites, transshippers and auxiliary instrumentation) of Matra, which in 1989 joined with the division of the same business of General Electric (Marconi Space Systems) to originate Matra Marconi Space. In 2000, a new merger with DASA, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG, from the DaimlerChrysler group, originated Astriun.
• Matra Nortel Communications (50% owned by Nortel)

Matra's Cars

The Matra name was used for the first time on cars in the Matra Djet model, with a Renault engine, an update of the Bonnet Jet.

The Djet was replaced by the Matra 530, with a Ford V4 engine like that of the Ford Taunus and Saab 96 of the time.

Matra developed a close partnership with Simca in the 1970s, manufacturing sports cars with Simca engines, such as the Bagheera, the Murena and the Rancho, a pick-up based on the chassis and body. of the Simca 1100. The Rancho continued in production until the 1980s, even after the purchase of Simca by Peugeot.

In 1984 Matra designed the first version of the Renault Espace, a great success; All units of this vehicle were assembled at the Romarantin factory in Matra until 2002.

After the failure of the Renault Avantime, also built by Matra, the group's management made public on February 27, 2003 its intentions to close its Romorantin-Lanthenay car factory. However, in September of the same year Pininfarina SpA acquired the Matra Automobile branch, dedicated to vehicle engineering, testing and prototyping. The company took the name Matra Automobile Engineering.

Cars manufactured by Matra

• Matra Djet
• Matra 530
• Matra Bagheera
• Matra Murena
• Matra Rancho
• Renault Espace
• Renault Avantime

Motor racing

Other activities

• Matra also manufactured missiles called:

• R550 Magic
• R555 Magic 2
• R530
• Super 530

• Matra made a home computer, the Matra Alice.
• Matra tried to produce a fast personal transport system, called Aramis, but without success.