Why Talbot Failed: The Brand That Died Twice By Titan007
Talbot is one of those names that sounds far simpler than it really is. To some people, it means elegant French Art Deco grand tourers and the unforgettable Talbot-Lago teardrops. To others, it means boxy family hatchbacks from the early 1980s wearing a badge that never quite fit. Both memories are correct, and that is exactly why Talbot’s story is so fascinating. Talbot was not a brand that failed in one clean, dramatic collapse. It failed in stages, under different owners, for different reasons, in different eras. Its first life ended because the world that had made luxury coach-built machines possible disappeared. Its second life ended because a great old name was revived not as a bold vision, but as a corporate convenience. The origins of Talbot go back to 1903, when Clément-Talbot was founded in Britain by the Earl of Shrewsbury and Talbot together with the French industrialist Adolphe Clément. From the start, Talbot was an Anglo-French proposition: British money, French engi...