Berliet and Licorne: Last-Ditch Body Transplants

Automobile production levels were low in Europe until the 1950s, at least when compared to the United States.  So I continually wonder how a country such as France could have supported so many car manufacturers.  (As late as model year 1938, 22 firms exhibited at the Paris Auto Show, and there were others in business that didn't exhibit.)  Part of the reason was because cars were mechanically much less elaborate than nowadays.  Also, bodies were usually composite, steel sheeting over wood framing until into the mid-1930s.  Therefore, less expensive tooling was required for body construction, though more hand-work was involved.

But industry consolidation was inevitable, and accelerated by the Great Depression of the 1930s.  During those years the French auto industry was dominated by three firms: Renault, Peugeot and Citroën -- the latter, having fallen on hard times, was taken over by Michelin, the tire maker.  Lesser firms were being squeezed out of the market and sometimes resorted to preservation strategies that might strike us today as being odd, yet were occasionally used in even the USA.

The strategy the present post deals with is where a smaller, weaker company sells cars built from components of cars from stronger makes.  Examples here are Berliet and Licorne.

Gallery

1939 Peugeot 402 BLE

1939 Berliet Dauphine
For the 1939 model year, Berliet turned to Peugeot to body its Dauphine line.  As can be seen above, from the cowling on back, the body is strictly Peugeot 402 B (the largest model in Peugeot's line at the time).  The front end borrows heavily from 1937-vintage American styling.

1938 Citroën 11

1938 Licorne Rivoli
Licorne's borrowing for 1938 was even more drastic.  Besides having a Citroën body, this Licorne model also had a Citroën motor and transmission -- necessary because the Citroën was front-wheel drive and therefore had no structural provision for a driveshaft and powered rear wheels.  This Licorne is essentially a Citroën with a different grille.
UPDATE: See Comments for a discussion of the Licorne's running gear and motors that runs counter to my speculations.