The family had a metal working business, producing a range of practical goods such as springs, saws, spectacle frames and coffee grinders.

In 1872, he married Sophie Leonie Fallot (1852–1930) and they had five children, but their only son, Raymond, died in 1896.

He was a graduate of the École Centrale Paris, a prestigious engineering school in France.

By 1892, the company name was Les Fils de Peugeot Frères, and they had begun to manufacture cars with Daimler engines.

He built a factory at Audincourt, dedicated to the manufacture of cars with an internal combustion engine.