Émile Mathis was a leading car dealer in Strasbourg, Alsace, handling Fiat, De Dietrich and Panhard-Levassor, among other makes from his Auto-Mathis-Palace.

During World War I, Mathis was sent by the German government (Alsace was then part of Germany) to Switzerland to buy tyres and after one of these trips, he went to France and remained there.

Automobiles Ford S.A. Française's operations became uneconomic with the sudden erection of tariff barriers in 1932 against imported components, mainly from Britain.

Matford, which copied the style of contemporary British Ford models, soon became one of the biggest competitors - the original Mathis factory closed down in 1935.

Émile Mathis regained his Strasbourg factory just before World War II, but by now it was clear that he would not be able to remain so close to a part of the Franco-German frontier which was expected to be a major zone of protracted conflict.

French defeat in June 1940 therefore found Émile Mathis high on the "wanted" list of the victorious Germans,[1] but he was careful to get away in time and spent the rest of war in the United States with his company Matam.

[2] The Pons Plan reflected government determination to structure the French auto-industry according to priorities identified by politicians and civil servants: exclusion from it created great difficulties in obtaining necessary permissions and materials.

When this failed to find favour with the authorities he switched tack, producing a front-wheel drive prototype with a flat-six (2.8 L) engine, and an eyecatching "panoramic" style windscreen.

Mathis aero-engines that reached production, prototype or advanced design stages are listed here: The plant was eventually bought by Citroën in 1954.