To all the car fanatics out there, today I bring you this blog, in which we will explore all the prominent car brands that start with P letter. There are many working and defunct P-initial automakers across the globe that have spanned over a wide range of markets and offer everything from luxury and performance to everyday practicality.
In the automotive world, the car brand name and its representation or logo have a huge impact on building its reputation. Today, we will dive into the world of car brands that start with the letter p and learn how rich and diversified their heritage is within the automotive industry.
Let’s get started.
1. Porsche
Porsche is one of the most prominent car brands beginning with P. This German automaker was founded in 1931 and has been synonymous with luxury and high-performance sports cars. However, the brand now also makes high-performance SUVs and sedans ideal for everyday drives.
Presently, Porsche is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, and is owned by Volkswagen AG. The 911, 356, and Cayenne are the most iconic models of this car manufacturer.
2. Peugeot
Peugeot is one of the oldest car manufacturers in the world. It was founded in 1810 in France as a coffee mill company. However, this French company eventually transitioned to making bicycles and automobiles. Peugeot produced its first car in 1889, a stream tricycle.
Peugeot has received many international awards for its vehicles, including six European Car of the Year awards. In addition, this P initial automaker has been successfully involved in motorsport for more than a century, with many victories under its name.
3. Pagani
Pagani is an Italian car company founded in 1992 by Horacia Pagani. The company is headquartered in San Cesario sul Panaro, Italy. It is globally known for making hypercars and car fiber components. Pagani primarily focuses on extreme performance, artistic design, and limited production, making its cars highly exclusive.
This automaker’s cars are the perfect blend of artistry and technology. The Zonda and Huayra are some of the most popular Pagani models. They are famous for their unique design, incredible performance, powerful engine, advanced materials, and lightweight yet strong structures.
4. Pininfarina
Pininfarina is an Italy-based car design firm and coachbuilder founded in 1930. This company is primarily known for designing vehicles for other manufacturers. Surprisingly, it has also produced a few models under its P-letter brand name. Pininfarina Battista, an all-electric hypercar introduced in 2019, is the most iconic model of this car brand.
Apart from vehicle design, Pininfarina has been designing high-speed trains, buses, trams, rolling stocks, automated light rail cars, people movers, yachts, airplanes, and private jets since the 1980s.
5. Proton
Proton is a common name for the Malaysian multinational automotive company Proton Holdings Berhad. Established in 1983, Proton was the first Malaysian car brand. Proton has played a significant role in its country’s automotive industry. It builds affordable and practical cars catering to the needs of the Malaysian market.
Proton’s recent collaborations with Gelly have brought advancements in technology and quality, promising a growing future for this automaker. The Safa, Wira, and X70 are the most iconic models of this Malaysian car brand.
6. Praga
Praga is a Czech Republic-based auto manufacturer that builds cars, trucks, and planes. The company was founded in 1907, and its logo comprises its name written in a beautiful and stylish cursive inscription with magnificent curves.
Presently, Praga produces karts (for motorsports), Racing cars, and road supercars. This automaker is actively involved in car racing. Praga produces up to 7,000 kart chassis every year, making it one of the most successful kart manufacturers in the world.
7. Peterbilt
Peterbilt Motors Company is an American truck manufacturer founded in 1939. This car brand, beginning with the letter P, specializes in producing heavy-duty and medium-duty commercial vehicles. Peterbilt has operated as part of PACCAR since 1958.
You can identify its truck by the large red-oval brand emblem, which has been in use since 1953. In addition, Peterbilt has been using a bird hood ornament on its conventional cab trucks since 1965.
8. Paccar
Paccar Inc. is an American Fortune 500 company that primarily focuses on designing and manufacturing large commercial trucks. This car brand was founded in 1905 and is among the world’s largest producers of medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles. In addition, Paccar also designs and produces diesel engines, provides financial services and information technology, and distributes truck parts related to its main business.
9. Polestar
Polestar is a Swedish automotive manufacturer established in 1996. This car brand is known for producing electric vehicles and has been owned by Volvo Cars since 2015. Polestar originated from a Swedish motorsport team, Flash Engineering, established in 1996. In 2005, this team was sold and rebranded into Polestar Racing.
Since its overtake by Volvo Cars, Polestar has been developing electric performance cars and high-performance cars based on Volvos and offering technical and cosmetic upgrades to enhance Volvo vehicles.
10. Panoz
Panoz is an American car brand that builds high-performance luxury sports cars. It was established in 1989 by Dan Panoz as Panoz Auto Development. Apart from car building, this luxury car brand that starts with P has also been extensively involved in professional racing. In addition, it designs, engineers, and builds its own race cars, including chassis and components. Panoz Roadster, AIV Roadster, the Esperante, and the Avezzano are some of its most iconic builds.
11. Perodua
Perodua is an abbreviation for Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sendirian Berhad, another Malaysian car brand founded in 1993. It is the largest automaker in Malaysia and is popular for making subcompact cars. Currently, this P-letter car maker exports its products to Singapore, Brunei, Mauritius, Fiji, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Seychelles.
12. Prodrive
Prodrive is a British motorsport and advanced engineering company founded in 1984 by Ian Parry and Dabid Richards and headquartered in Banbury, England. This car company designs, builds, and races vehicles for various companies and teams, such as Mini, Volkswagen, and Aston Martin.
13. PGO
PGO Automobiles is a French auto manufacturer that produces an exclusive series of sports cars. This brand was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Saint-Christol-lès-Alès, France. PGO started by building replicas but soon moved on to building its designs into full-scale models.
The Speedster II was PGO’s first two-seater sports car. It featured retro styling but modern specifications. Overall, PGO is a perfect blend of style and individuality.
14. Premier
Premier Limited is an Indian automobile company based in Mumbai. This P-initial car brand was founded in 1944 by Walchand Hirachand. Premier is owned by Walchand Group. In 1947, this automaker built the first Indian-made cars and trucks. This automaker is well known for its Premier Padmini, which ruled the Indian automotive market and was extremely popular during the 1970s and 80s.
15. Puma
Puma Automóveis Ltda. is a Brazilian automaker of sports cars. It was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil. For a limited time, this automaker gave its production rights to other companies, including many Brazilian companies and one South African company.
The production rights for Puma models expired in 2014. Since then, the company has been revived and has been working on many new projects. Puma P-052 and Puma GT Lumimari are some of this automaker’s upcoming projects.
16. Picchio
Picchio or Picchio Racing Cars is a small racing and road automobile producer based in Italy. It was founded by Giotto Bizzarrini in 1989. SR2 was the first car built by Picchio in 1998. This car brand that starts with the letter P is notable for designing and developing racing cars such as the Picchio D-USA, Picchio DP2, and Picchio DANY (an electric car).
17. Perana
Perana, or Perana Performance Group, is a car developer based in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. It was founded in 2007 and has partnered with Zagato to develop the PErana Z-One, a sports car based on the sixth-generation Corvette. The Perana Z-One was introduced in 2009 at the Geneva Motor Show.
18. Pontiac
Pontiac was an American car brand owned, manufactured, and commercialized by the famous General Motors. GM introduced this brand in 1926 as a companion to its car brand that starts with O, Oakland. Pontiac used to produce luxury cars and took over Oakland in 1933.
Since its establishment, Pontiac has produced some great cars, like the Pontiac GTO. However, GM discontinued Pontiac in 2010 due to financial problems and the 2008 financial crash. GM still owns the Pontiac trademark.
19. Pegaso
Pegaso was a Spanish automaker launched by ENASA that built buses, trucks, tractors, and armored vehicles from 1946 to 1994. This brand even built some sports cars and train apprentices, which immensely helped build its brand image.
In 1990, Iveco took over Enasa, making Pegaso a secondary brand of Iveco. However, shortly after this takeover, most of the Pegaso ranges disappeared from the market. In 1994, with the Pegaso Troner removed from the production line, this car brand was defunct.
20. Packard
Packard was a luxury automobile company from America. This automotive brand was launched in 1899 in Detroit, Michigan. Packard built many notable luxury car series like the Packard Eight and Packard V-12. The company became defunct in 1954 after merging with Studebaker, an American wagon and automotive manufacturer.
21. Panhard
Panhard was a French vehicle manufacturer founded in 1887 in Paris, France. This car brand was one of the first automobile makers in the world. It used to build sports cars, sedans, coupe, and passenger cars. In addition, this company also built light tactical and military vehicles such as armored cars, trucks, and combat vehicles.
Panhard was acquired by Auverland in 2005 and then by Renault in 2012. In 2018, this automotive brand became defunct when Renault Trucks Defense, ACMAT, and Panhard were combined under a single brand named Arquus.
22. Plymouth
Plymouth was a sub-brand of Chrysler Corporation. It was launched in 1928 by Chrysler to produce low-priced vehicles, including passenger cars, concept cars, and trucks, to compete against the domination of Chevrolet and Ford in that segment at that time. Plymouth quickly became a high-volume seller for its parent company until the 1990s.
Plymouth cars were primarily marketed in the United States. However, in 2001, Chrysler withdrew the brand from the market. All the Plymouth models produced up to then were either discontinued or rebranded as Dodge or Chrysler.
23. Pierce Arrow
Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company was an American car brand founded in 1901 and based in Buffalo, New York. The brand was best known for building luxury cars and automotive parts. However, this P-initial company also built commercial trucks, fire trucks, boats, camp trailers, motorcycles, and bicycles.
The 1930 Pierce-Arrow Model B and 1935 Pierce Arrow 845 V12 Silver Arrow Coupe are some of this maker’s impressive builds. This brand became defunct in 1938 due to low sales and lack of funds for further development.
24. Prince
Prince or Prince Motor Company was a P-letter car brand from Japan founded in 1952. This company started its journey as Tachikawa Aircraft Company, a manufacturer of various kinds of airplanes for the Japanese Army in World War II.
However, after the war, it diversified into building automobiles and even built an electric car called Tama. It changed its name to Price in 1952. Prince has built some great luxury cars like Skyline and Gloria. In 1966, this Japanese car brand became defunct after merging with Nissan.
25. Panther
Panther, formerly known as Panther Westwinds, was a British manufacturer of niche sports and luxury cars. Founded in 1972 and headquartered in Surrey, United Kingdom, it specialized in designing and developing unique cars. Panther De Ville and Panther Lazer are two great examples of this brand. The company was defunct in 1990.
26. Parradine
Parradine is another British car company that begins with the letter P on this list. This car brand operated from 1987 to 1991 and built only one model. The Parradine Pegasus V12 was this automaker’s only car, and it was based on AC Cobra.
27. Peerless
Peerless was a US-based car company that manufactured high-quality luxury automobiles from 1900 to 1931. This company popularized many vehicle innovations that became standard equipment, like drum brakes and the first enclosed-body production cars. During World War I, this automaker manufactured military vehicle chassis and trucks. The last Peerless was produced in June 1931, and with that, this automaker came to a complete halt.
These are the world’s most famous working and defunct car brands that start with P. Each of these automakers has contributed to pushing the global automotive world to its future through their heritage and diversity. The dynamism of the automotive industry has changed due to the uniqueness of these car brands. From the still-running premium Porsche to the now-gone luxurious Pontiac and practical elegant Peugeot, you can find everything in these car brands.
P-letter automakers continue to excite and inspire car enthusiasts around the globe. Which P-initial automaker intrigued you the most?
