Vétra (or Vetra), or more formally the Société des Véhicules et Tracteurs Electriques,[1][2] was a French manufacturer of trolleybuses and electric locomotives.

[3] Founded in 1925, it became one of Western Europe's largest builders of trolleybuses during the middle decades of the 20th century, making in excess of 1,750 vehicles, for cities in France and in several other countries.

[4] The traction motors and other electrical equipment in Vétra trolleybuses were supplied by Alsthom (now called Alstom) in all or nearly all cases,[7] while many mechanical parts, often including chassis, came from Berliet.

For example, the VBRh was basically the same as the VBR except was 2.9 m tall instead of 2.7 m, and the h suffix in the model number stood for "haute" (high).

[9] Vétra also made some freight vehicles for a non-passenger trolleytruck line between Villey-Saint-Étienne and Varangéville, France.

The operation, however, was a failure, due to the contemporary import to Spain of several tenths of ex-London Transport BUT units; and only one Pegaso 8010, with a Seida body, was ever built.

[12] Other European countries where Vétra found buyers were Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Spain and Switzerland.

[4] Vétra also found a good market in North Africa, where it sold to all but one of the eight trolleybus systems in operation, including Algiers, Constantine (3 separate operators) and Oran, in Algeria; Cairo, Egypt; Casablanca, Morocco; and Tunis, Tunisia.

[2][15] By 1983, with the retirement of St. Etienne's last Vétra trolleybuses, Limoges and Lyon were the only systems anywhere that continued to use Vétras in service.

In 1984/85, Lyon operator TCL chose to refurbish seven of these, rather than buy a new batch of non-standard-length trolleybuses just for one route.

[16] As a result, these last Vétra trolleybuses (renumbered 1701–1707) received an extended life, remaining in service until early 2000.

The largest number, by far, is owned by the Association pour le Musée des Transports Urbains, Interurbains et Ruraux (AMTUIR), in Paris, which counted 10 Vétra trolleybuses in its collection as of 2000.

The Musée Provençal des Transports Urbains et Ruraux (MPTUR), in La Barque, has three Vétra trolleybuses.