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Citroën is a French automobile manufacturer, started in 1919 by André Citroën, today part of PSA Peugeot Citroën. Its headquarters are located in Paris, rue Fructidor. Originally a mass-market car maker with relatively straightforward designs, Citroën shocked the world in 1934 with the innovative Traction Avant (front wheel drive) (1934-1956). Until the late 1980s the company had a reputation for approaching auto design in a unique way. Later significant models include the H Van (1947-1981, "HY"), 2CV (1948-1990, The "Ugly Duckling"), DS (1955-1975, "Goddess") and CX (1974-1991). The story of Citroën begins with the founder of the company himself, André Citroën. After serving in the French army, he set up a gear-making business, which became identified with the "herringbone" or double helical gear, which is the origin of the Citroën "double chevron" trademark. In 1919, however, the business started to produce automobiles, beginning with the conventional Type A. André Citroën was a keen marketer - he used the Eiffel Tower as the world's largest advertising sign, per the Guinness book of World Records. He also sponsored expeditions in Asia (Croisière Jaune) and Africa (Croisière Noire), intended to demonstrate the potential for motor vehicles equiped with Kegresse track system to cross inhospitable regions. The expeditions conveyed scientists and journalists and were a publicity success. In 1924, Citroën began a relationship with American engineer Edward G. Budd. From 1899, Budd had worked to develop pressed-steel bodies for railroad cars, Pullman in particular. Budd went on to manufacture steel bodies for many automakers, Dodge being his first big auto client. In 1928, Citroën introduced the first all-steel body in Europe. In the beginning, the cars were successful. But soon competitors, who still used a wood structure for their bodies, introduced new body designs on their cars. Citroën had no way to redesign the body of his cars and the cars began to be perceived as old-fashioned. The Citroëns sold in large quantities despite the stylistic drawback, but the car's low price was the main selling point and Citroën experienced heavy losses. This encouraged André Citroën to develop the Traction Avant, a car so innovative that to it the competition would have no response. The Traction Avant had three revolutionary features: a unitary body with no seperate frame, four wheel independent suspension, and front wheel drive. Citroën commissioned Budd to created a prototype, which evolved into the Onze Légère and 7 CV (5 kW) Traction Avant of 1934. The Traction Avant would set the pattern to be followed thirty years later by the Mini, Volkswagen Golf and today by nearly every other manufacturer. Achieving quick development of the Traction Avant was expensive and contributed to the financial ruin of the company. In 1934, debt forced the company into foreclosure; it was then taken over by its biggest creditor, the tire company Michelin. Fortunately for Michelin, the Traction Avant met with market acceptance and the basic philosophy that had led to this design continued. During the German occupation of France, Citroën researchers continued their work and developed the concepts later brought to market in the 2CV and DS. These were widely regarded by contemporary journalists as radical, even avant garde, solutions to automotive design. Citroën unveiled the 2CV (two horses in English) at the Paris Salon in 1948. This car become a bestseller - acheiving the designer's aim of providing rural Frenchmen with a motorized alternative to the horse. This car remained in production with minor changes until 1990. 1955 saw the introduction of the DS, which was the first full usage of Citroën's now legendary hydropneumatic suspension system that was first tested on the rear suspension of the last of the Tractions. The DS was the first production car with disk brakes. The DS featured power steering, power brakes and suspension and, from 1968, directional headlights . The same high-pressure system was used to activate pistons located in the gearbox cover to shift the gears in the transmission (gearbox in British - in French transmission means driveshaft) and operate the clutch on their "Citromatic", Citroën's version of a semi-automatic transmission. This high-pressure hydraulic system would form the basis of many Citroën cars, including the SM, GS, CX, BX, XM, Xantia and C5. During Citroën's venture with Maserati the Citroën high pressure hydraulic system was used on several Maserati models for power clutch operation (Bora), power pedals adjustment (Bora), pop-up headlights (Bora, Merak) and brakes (Bora, Merak), and the entire Quattroporte II prototype, which was a four-door Citroën SM under the skin. In 1965 Citroën took over the French carmaker Panhard in the hope of using Panhard's expertise in midsize cars to complement its own range of very small, cheap cars (e.g. 2CV/Ami) and large, expensive cars (e.g. DS/ID). In 1968 Citroën purchased Maserati, the Italian sports car maker and launched the sports car/Grand Tourer SM, which contained a V6 Maserati engine. The SM was engineered as if it were replacing the DS, a level of investment the GT sector alone would never be able to support, even in the best of circumstances. Circumstances were instead unfavorable, since the SM was banned from the key US export market in 1974 and the 1973 energy crisis cut GT sales. Huge losses at Citroën were caused by failure of the Comotor rotary engine venture, plus the strategic error of going 15 years (1955-1970) without a model in the profitable middle range of the European market, and the massive development costs for the GS, CX, SM, Birotor, Maserati Bora, Maserati Merak, and Maserati Khamsin models - each a technological marvel in its own right. Citroen was weak and unable to withstand the softening of the automobile market that accompanied the 1973 oil embargo; it went bankrupt in 1974. The French Government feared large job losses and arranged for Peugeot to take over Citroën in 1975. The combined company was known as PSA Peugeot Citroën. PSA sold off Maserati to DeTomaso in May 1975, and the Italian firm was quickly able to exploit the aspirational image of the Maserati brand to sell sell tens of thousands of newly designed Bi-Turbo models. PSA also squeezed out Citroën's ambitious attitude to engineering and styling in favor of Peugeot conservatism. PSA purged the design and developmernt staff and successfully rebranded Citroën as provider of bargain priced transportation - similar to the positioning of Chevrolet and Buick in the US. Since Citroën had two successful new designs in the market at this time (the GS and CX) and Peugeot was typically prudent in its own finances, the PSA venture was a financial success from 1975 to 1979. PSA then purchased the aging assets of Chrysler Europe, leadiing to losses for the consortium from 1980 to 1985. In the 1980s, Citroën models were increasingly Peugeot-based. The BX of 1982 still used the hydropneumatic suspension system, but was powered by Peugeot-derived engines. By the late 1980s, PSA used extensive platform sharing. The XM, for example, used the same engines and floorpan as the Peugeot 605, and the Xantia of 1993 was identical under the skin to the Peugeot 406. Citroën developed a small car for production in Romania known as the Oltcit, which it also sold as the Citroën Axel. While that joint venture has ended, but a new joint venture between Citroën, Peugeot, and Toyota is now producing cars like the Citroën C1 in the Czech republic. It has expanded into many new geographic markets, for example in China where the C3 and Xsara are sold alongside the ZX Fukang and Elysée local models. Citroën is a global brand, except in the United States, where the cars were banned in 1974. The ubiquitous and versatile 2CV workhorse was finally killed off in 1990 without replacement. Companies like Chrysler with the PT Cruiser and Honda with the Element have recognized the 2CV concept and translated it to the modern era. In spite of the problems between Peugeot and Citroën, Citroën has recently rediscovered its tradition for innovation, exemplified by new vehicles such as the C2, C4, and C6. The introduction of even newer models, such as the long-awaited XM replacement, the C6, indicates Citroën's continued commitment to innovation in the 21st century. In 2003 Citroën sold 1 372 500 cars, as stated in the PSA Peugeot Citroën group's 2003 annual report.THE HISTORY OF CITROEN
CITROËN
HISTORY
PASSENGER CARS AND VANS
TRUCKS
PROTOTYPES AND CONCEPT CARS
MISCELLANEOUS
CITROËN'S WINNERS OF THE EUROPEAN CAR OF THE YEAR AWARD
CITROEN'S SECOND AND THIRD PLACED ENTRANTS IN EUROPEAN CAR OF THE YEAR AWARD
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