The person to be credited for the creation of this French automobile manufacturer, Citroen, was Andre Citroen. Andre Citroen founded the company in 1919, after World War I. He was building weapons for France during the war, and when the war was over, he was left with only a factory without anything to produce. He thought of going into the automobile business, then, and Citroen was born.
Andre Citroen was not only the founder of Citroen. He was also the company’s PR man. Equipped with strong marketing skills, Citroen was able to use the Eiffel Tower for his advertising billboard, the largest in the world. Also as part of his marketing strategies, Citroen sponsored tours across Asia and Africa meant to convince scientists and journalists of the possibility of motor vehicles with the Kegresse track system to cross other regions.
Five years after founding the Citroen, Andre Citroen hooked with Edward G. Budd, an American engineer who developed stainless steel bodies for railroad cars. Budd also made steel bodies for some automobile companies, in particular, Dodge. Four years later, Citroen came out with the first ever automobiles with an all-steel body in Europe. These became very popular at first, but soon, its competitors began to catch up and started making new body designs to compete with Citroen’s all-steel designs. Still, Citroen was offering its cars at cheaper prices, and because of this, it was able to sell large quantities of its cars, despite the strong competition. Selling the cars at lower prices, however, became a disadvantage over time because the company eventually suffered huge losses.
Hoping to save the company, Citroen came out with the Traction Avant, a model that was entirely different from the conventional types Citroen was known for. The Traction Avant had a unitary body with no separate frame, a front wheel independent suspension, and a front wheel drive.
The Traction Avant might have been innovative, but it, perhaps, appeared too soon. The company, once again, experienced tremendous losses because of its rapid development, as well as the construction of its production facilities. In 1934, already deep in debt, Citroen had to be foreclosed, and the tire company Michelin took over its operations. Fortunately, the Traction Avant was widely accepted in the market. Unfortunately, because Citroen was undercapitalized, its vehicles were underdeveloped, and developing them would prove very costly.
Sometime during the World War II, researchers of Citroen secretly worked to develop ideas that would be later seen in the 2CV and DS models. The designs were viewed by many journalists as highly revolutionized. Still, the 2CV model was an instant hit, selling like cupcakes soon after its launch in 1948 at the Paris Salon. This model was in circulation until 1990, with very few improvements being made.
The DS model, on the other hand, was launched only in 1955. A particular feature of this car was the use of the hydropneumatic self-leveling system. It was also the first car with disc brakes. Further, the DS was power steering, and had power brakes and power suspension. The DS model had directional headlights from 1968 and onwards.
Citroen eventually became one of the originators of the aerodynamic automobile design. This design helped to reduce fuel consumption to a certain degree. At the same time, it also reduced wind resistance, thereby improving the car’s high-speed performance.
In 1965, Citroen managed Panhard, a French automobile company known for its midsize cars. Citroen had already very small cars and very big cars, and it was hoping to come out with midsize cars, as well. Three years later, Citroen bought Maserati, an Italian automobile company specializing in sports car. Soon after the grand tourer SM was launched to the public. The grand tourer SM had a Maserati engine and a steering system and was fully powered.
In the 1970s, however, Citroen encountered another financial letdown as a result of the energy crisis in 1973. Also contributing to the company’s losses were the unsuccessful Comotor rotary engine business venture and the fact that for 15 years, specifically from 1955 to 1970, Citroen did not come out with a model in the middle range of the European market. Added to its woes were expansive development costs for some of its models, such as the GS, CX, SM, Birotor, Maserati Bora, Maserati Merak, and Maserati Kahmsin.
Quite expectedly, Citroen went bankrupt. In response, the French Government arranged for the merger of Automobiles Citroen with Automobiles Peugeot. So beginning in 1974, after buying 38.2% of the shares of Citroen, Peugeot managed the operations of Citroen, specifically when it came to research, purchasing and investment. In 1976, Peugeot SA bought 90% of Citroen SA, and the two companies eventually became the PSA Peugeot Citroen.
For three years following the merger, the PSA Peugeot Citroen was a success. In fact, it was able to come out with two new designs, the Citroen 2CV and the Citroen Dyane. Further, it launched Citroen Visa and Citroen LNA, and bought Chrysler Europe, rebranding it as Talbot. PSA also revolutionized Citroen to make its cars cheaper so it could cater to the middle-class as well. Many of the car models of Citroen became largely Peugeot-based. The BX, for instance, while using the hydropneumatic suspension system and taking the form of Citroen, was powered by engines derived from Peugeot.
At the close of the 1970s, Citroen invaded other markets. It developed a small car, known as the Oltcit, which would be produced in Romania and sold in Western Europe as Citroen Axel. The presence of the company is also evident in the Check Republic, China, and almost anywhere else, with the exception of North America.
The 2CV model died out eventually in 1990 after Chrysler, Toyota and Honda learned the concept and improved it to their advantage. Instead, Citroen offered the C3 Pluriel, a convertible that strongly resembled the 2CV. The emergence of the Pluriel in the market marked the comeback of Citroen to modernization.
Citroen now has its main office in Fructido, Paris, and it has been part of the PSA Peugeot Citroen since 1976.
