Francois Lehideux French industrialist and member of the Vichy government Date of Birth: 30.01.1904 Country: France

Biography of François Lehideux

François Lehideux was a French industrialist and member of the Vichy government who attempted to seize control of the leadership of the automobile company 'Renault'. He supported the Vichy regime, but unlike his collaborator Pierre Pucheu, he not only avoided punishment but also continued to engage in business in the post-war years.

François Lehideux was born on January 30, 1904, in Paris, France. He married the daughter of Fernand Renault and eventually became a leading figure in the 'Renault' automobile company. Lehideux was an assistant to Louis Renault and in this role, he convinced the company's leader to hire automotive engineer André Lefebvre in the development department. Impressed by Lefebvre's bold ideas, Lehideux felt that the 'Renault' brand needed to modernize its projects in order to continue leading the French automobile market.

Working for the benefit of 'Renault', François never hid his ambitions. A year after the start of World War I, on September 3, 1940, Louis Renault met with the new leader of France, Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain, who assured him that the government still wanted him to head the company. At that time, Louis was seriously concerned about his brother-in-law, François Lehideux, who skillfully juggled his political connections in hopes of leading 'Renault'.

Such intrigues reflected the seriousness of the Vichy government's intention to adhere to an interventionist approach in the industry, which its predecessor, Prime Minister Léon Blum, representing the 'left wing', had followed five years earlier. Government interventionism became an important part of the history of the French automobile industry, especially in the 'Renault' company in the post-war decades.

After an unsuccessful struggle for dominance in 'Renault', François Lehideux left the company. In October 1940, he was appointed to a managerial position in the COA organization, which 'smoothed out' relations between the German authorities and French car manufacturers. It is believed that Lehideux's successful intervention in Franco-German affairs in 1943 helped prevent the implementation of the German plan to relocate the newly built 'Ford' automobile plant in Poissy to Cologne.

Along with Jacques Barnaud and Pierre Pucheu, Lehideux was part of a group of technocrats who played an important role in supporting the Vichy regime in its early days. These people advocated serious economic reforms that would turn France into a leading player in the future Europe controlled by Germans. Together with Pucheu and Paul Marion, Lehideux presented his ideas to Otto Abetz, one of the leaders of the Third Reich's occupation administration in France. The exchange of opinions took place in March 1941 when a memorandum was signed. People like François Lehideux truly hoped to turn France into a 'stronghold in Europe' under the new German order. William D. Leahy, the United States Ambassador to France, informed his friend Franklin D. Roosevelt that Lehideux had joined the pro-Nazi individuals surrounding Philippe Pétain.

In 1941, François was entrusted with the management of a new organization, the General Directorate for National Security, which was supposed to improve the economic situation and overcome high unemployment. As the leader of the directorate, Lehideux developed a ten-year plan for the economic development and prosperity of the Vichy regime. He served as Minister of Industrial Production and worked closely with Nazi Germany, providing tanks to the military and organizing repair work. The repair of German equipment was transferred to the 'Renault' company. François held the ministerial portfolio from July 1941 to April 1942, until Pierre Laval returned to power.

Lehideux was arrested after World War II, but in 1946, he was released, and on February 17, 1949, all charges against him were dropped by the Supreme Court due to insufficient evidence. Additionally, according to reports, members of the 'Civil and Military Organization', a French underground resistance organization, sided with Lehideux. Once released, François returned to business. The management of the 'Ford Motor Company' appointed him as the managing director of the French division in 1950, replacing Maurice Dollfus. This decision led to disputes and hostile attitudes towards 'Ford', which sold its French division to the automaker 'Simca' in 1954.

In late 1997, Lehideux stated that the policies of Vichy were implemented under difficult circumstances that mitigated Pétain's guilt. He also joined the 'Association for the Defense of Marshal Pétain's Memory', a group that sought to reassess the actions of the head of the authoritarian collaborationist government of France.

François Lehideux passed away on June 21, 1998, at the age of 95, formally marking the end of the existence of the Vichy group, which no longer had any living representatives.