Citroën (French pronunciation:[sitʁɔɛn]ⓘ)[note 1] is a French automobilebrand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded on 4 June 1919 byAndré Citroën. Citroën has been owned byStellantis since 2021 and previously was part of thePSA Group afterPeugeot acquired 89.95% share in 1976.[5] Citroën's head office is located in theStellantis Poissy Plant inSaint-Ouen-sur-Seine since 2021 (previously in Rueil-Malmaison) and its offices studies and research in Vélizy-Villacoublay, Poissy (CEMR), Carrières-sous-Poissy and Sochaux-Montbéliard.
In 1934, the firm established its reputation for innovative technology with theTraction Avant.[6] This was the world's first car to be mass-produced withfront-wheel drive and four-wheel independent suspension, as well asunibody construction, omitting a separate chassis, and instead using the body of the car itself as its main load-bearing structure.[7]
In 1954, Citroën produced the world's firsthydropneumaticself-levelling suspension system;[8] then the revolutionaryDS, the first mass-produced car with moderndisc brakes, in 1955.[9] In 1967,swiveling headlights that allowed for greater visibility on winding roads were introduced in several models. These cars have received various national and international awards, including threeEuropean Car of the Year awards.
André Citroën graduated from theÉcole Polytechnique in 1900 and visited his mother's homeland, Poland, shortly after she died. During that holiday, he saw a carpenter working on a set of gears with a fishbone structure that were less noisy and more efficient. Citroën bought the patent for very little money, leading to the invention ofdouble helical gears. The next year, he and his partners invested a significant portion of his inheritance in founding "Citroën, Hinstin et Cie," a gear manufacturing business specializing in V-shaped helical gears, starting with about ten workers.[10]
André Citroën
Citroën had a successful six-year stint working withMors between 1908 and the outbreak ofWorld War I.[11] He builtarmaments for France during the war, but he realized that unless he planned ahead, he would have a modern factory without a product afterward.[11]
Citroën began planning to switch to automobile manufacturing by 1916, when he asked the engineer Louis Dufresne, previously with Mors rivalPanhard, to design a technically sophisticated 18-horsepower automobile he could produce in his factory once peace returned.[11] Long before that happened, however, he had modified his vision and decided, likeHenry Ford, that the best post-war opportunities in auto-making would involve a lighter car of good quality, but made in sufficient quantities to be priced enticingly.[11] In February 1917, Citroën contacted the 1909 creator ofLe Zèbre, French automotive engineerJules Salomon [fr], with a mandate that was characteristically both demanding and simple: produce an all-new design for a 10-horsepower car that would be better equipped, more robust, and less costly to produce than any rival product at the time.[11]
The result was theCitroën Type A, announced to the press in March 1919, just four months after the guns fell silent.[11] The first production Type A emerged from the factory—located atQuai de Javel,Vaugirard,Paris—at the end of May 1919, and in June it was exhibited at a showroom at Number 42, on theChamps-Élysées in Paris which normally soldAlda cars.[11] Citroën persuaded the owner of the Alda business,Fernand Charron, to lend him the showroom, which is still in use today. ThisC42 showroom is where the company organises exhibitions and shows its vehicles and concept cars. A few years later, Charron would be persuaded to become a major investor in the Citroën business.[11] On 7 July 1919, the first customer took delivery of a new 10HP Type A.[11] In the same year, it produced 30 cars daily, totaling 2,810 vehicles, with 12,244 produced in 1920.[12]
C 42 is the Citroën showroom on the Champs Elysées in Paris
That same year, André Citroën briefly negotiated withGeneral Motors a proposed sale of the Citroën company.[13] The deal nearly closed, but General Motors ultimately decided that its management and capital would be too overstretched by the takeover,[13] thus, Citroën remained independent until 1935.
Between 1921 and 1937, Citroën produced half-track vehicles for off-road and military uses, using theKégresse track system. In the 1920s, theU.S. Army purchased several Citroën-Kégresse vehicles for evaluation followed by a licence to produce them. This resulted in theUnited States Army Ordnance Department building a prototype in 1939. In December 1942, it went into production with theM2 Half Track Car andM3 Half-track versions.[14] The U.S. eventually produced more than 41,000 vehicles in over 70 versions between 1940 and 1944. After their 1940 occupation of France, theNazis captured many of the Citroën half-track vehicles andarmored them for their own use.[14]
TheEiffel Tower served as a billboard for Citroën from 1925 to 1934.
Citroën used theEiffel Tower as the world's largest advertising sign, as recorded inGuinness World Records.[15] He also sponsored expeditions in Asia (Croisière Jaune), North America (Croisière Blanche) and Africa (Croisière Noire), demonstrating the potential for motor vehicles equipped with theKégresse track system to cross inhospitable regions. These expeditions conveyedscientists andjournalists.[16]
Demonstrating extraordinary toughness, a 1923 Citroën that had already travelled 48,000 km (30,000 mi) was the first car to be driven around Australia. The car, a 1923 Citroën 5CV Type C Torpedo, was driven by Neville Westwood fromPerth,Western Australia, on a round trip from August to December 1925. This vehicle is now fully restored and in the collection of theNational Museum of Australia.[17]
Share of the S. A. André Citroën, issued 30 September 1927
In 1924, Citroën began a business relationship with the American engineerEdward G. Budd. From 1899, Budd had worked to develop stainless steel bodies for railroad cars, forPullman in particular. Budd went on to manufacture steel bodies for many automakers,Dodge being his first big auto client. At the Paris Motor Show in October 1924, Citroën introduced theCitroën B10, the first all-steel body in Europe.[18] These automobiles were initially successful in the marketplace, but soon competitors who were still using awooden structure for their vehicles, introduced new body designs. Citroën, who did not redesign the bodies of his cars, still sold in large quantities nonetheless, the cars' low price being the main selling point, which factor however caused Citroën to experience heavy losses.[citation needed]
In 1927, the bankLazard helped Citroën by bringing new much-needed funds, as well as by renegotiating its debt—for example, by buying out the Société de Vente des Automobiles Citroën (SOVAC). It went even further by entering in its capital and being represented on the board; the three directors sent by Lazard were Raymond Philippe,Andre Meyer and Paul Frantzen. André Citroën perceived the need to differentiate his product, to avoid the low price competition surrounding his conventional rear drive models in the late 1920s and early 1930s. In 1933 he introduced the Rosalie, the first commercially available passenger car with adiesel engine, developed withHarry Ricardo.
TheTraction Avant is a car that pioneered the mass production of three revolutionary features that are still in use today:a unitary body with no separate frame, four wheelindependent suspension andfront-wheel drive. Whereas for many decades, the vast majority of motor cars were similar in conception to theFord Model T – a body bolted onto aladder frame which held all the mechanical elements of the car, asolid rear axle that rigidly connected the rear wheels andrear wheel drive. TheModel T school of automobile engineering proved popular because it was considered cheap to build, although it did pose dynamic defects as automobiles were becoming more capable, and resulted in heavier cars, which is why today cars are more like the Traction Avant than the Model T under the skin.In 1934 Citroën commissioned the AmericanBudd Company to create a prototype, which evolved into the 7 fiscal horsepower (CV), 32 hp (24 kW) Traction Avant.
Achieving quick development of the Traction Avant, tearing down and rebuilding the factory (in five months) and the extensive marketing efforts, were investments that resulted too costly for Citroën to do all at once, causing the financial ruin of the company. In December 1934, despite the assistance of the Michelin company, Citroën filed for bankruptcy. Within the month,Michelin, already the car manufacturer's largest creditor, became its principal shareholder.[19] However, the technologically advancedTraction Avant had met with market acceptance, and the basic philosophy of cutting-edge technology used as a differentiator, continued until the late 1990s.Pierre Michelin became the chairman of Citroën early in 1935.Pierre-Jules Boulanger, his deputy, became the vice-president and chief of the engineering and design departments. In 1935, the founderAndré Citroën died from stomach cancer.[20]
Pierre-Jules Boulanger had been a First World War air reconnaissance photography specialist with theFrench Air Force; he was capable and efficient and finished the war with the rank of captain. He was also courageous, having been decorated with the Military Cross and the Legion of Honour. He started working forMichelin in 1918, reporting directly toÉdouard Michelin, co-director and founder of the business. Boulanger joined the Michelin board in 1922 and became president of Citroën in January 1938 after the death in a road accident of his friendPierre Michelin[21] remaining in this position until his own death in 1950. In 1938, he also had become Michelin's joint managing director.[22]
During theGerman occupation of France in World War II Boulanger refused to meet Dr.Ferdinand Porsche or communicate with the German authorities except through intermediaries. He organized a "go slow" on production of trucks for theWehrmacht, many of which were sabotaged at the factory by putting the notch on the oil dipstick in the wrong place, which resulted in engine seizure. In 1944 when theGestapo headquarters in Paris was sacked by theFrench Resistance, his name was prominent on aNazi blacklist of the most important enemies of the Reich, to be arrested in the event of an allied invasion of France.[23]
Citroën researchers, includingPaul Magès, continued their work in secret, against the express orders of the Germans, and developed the concepts that were later brought to market in three remarkable vehicles – a small car (2CV), a delivery van (Type H) and a large, swift family car (DS). These were widely regarded by contemporaryjournalists asavant garde, even radical, solutions to automotive design.Thus began a decades-long period of unusualbrand loyalty, normally seen in the automobile industry only in niche brands, likePorsche andFerrari.
Citroën unveiled theCitroën 2CV orDeux Chevaux signifying twotax horsepower and initially only 9 hp (6.7 kW), at theParis Salon in 1948. The car became a bestseller, achieving the designer's aim of providing ruralFrench people with a motorized alternative to thehorse. It was unusually inexpensive to purchase and, with its small two cylinder engine, inexpensive to run as well. The 2CV pioneered a very soft, interconnected suspension, but did not have the more complexself-levelling feature. This car remained in production, with only minor changes, until 1990 and was a common sight on French roads until recently; 9 million 2CV variants were produced in the period 1948–1990.[24]
1955 saw the introduction of theDS, the first full usage of Citroën'shydropneumaticself-levelling suspension system, tested on the rear suspension of the Traction in 1954. The DS was also the first production car with moderndisc brakes.A single high-pressurehydraulic system was used to actuate thepower steering, thesuspension and brakes; the brakes were fully powered, not power assisted, as pedal force was not a component of braking power.The gearshift, (semi-automatic transmission) was also powered by the hydraulic system through a control valve, with actuating pistons in thegearbox cover to shift the gears in thetransmission, and the clutch was operated automatically by the system, so there was no clutch pedal. From 1957 the ID19 model offered a simplified hydraulic system, with manual steering and conventional manual gearshift, and a significant price reduction.From 1968, with revised front end style, the DS also introduced auxiliary driving lights, that moved directionally with the steering, improving visibility at night.Production from 1956 to 1975 totalled almost 1.5 million cars.The streamlined car was remarkable for its era and had a remarkable sounding name – in French,DS is pronounced[de.ɛs], which sounds the same asdéesse, which meansGoddess.[25] It placed third in the 1999Car of the Century competition.
This high-pressure hydraulic system would form the basis of over 9 million Citroën cars, including theDS,SM,GS,CX,BX,XM,Xantia,C5, andC6.Self-levelling suspension is the principal user benefit: the car maintains a constant ride height above the road, regardless of passenger and cargo load and despite the very soft suspension.Hydropneumatic suspension is uniquely able toabsorb road irregularities without disturbing the occupants[26] and is often compared to riding on amagic carpet for this reason.[27]These vehicles shared the distinguishing feature of rising to operatingride height when the engine was turned on, like a "mechanical camel" (perCar & Driver magazine). A lever ( later replaced by an electronic switch ) beside the driver's seat allowed the driver to adjust the height of the car; this height adjustability allows for the clearing of obstacles, fording shallow (slow-moving) streams and changing tyres.
Since Citroën was underfunded, its vehicles had the tendency to be underdeveloped at launch, with limited distribution and service networks outside France. Consequently, the early DS models experienced teething issues with the complex hydraulic system, eventually,[26] the hydraulic seals and system component design were sorted, becoming reliable.[28]Licensing such a technological leap forward was pursued to a limited extent: in 1965 theRolls-Royce Silver Shadow used this type of suspension, while the 1963Mercedes-Benz 600 andMercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3 tried to replicate its advantages with a costly, complex and expensive to maintain,air suspension, that avoided the Citroën-patented technology.[29] By 1975, theMercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 was finally produced with this proven system andMercedes-Benz continues to offer variations on this technology today.During Citroën's 1968–1975 venture withMaserati, the Citroën high-pressure hydraulic system was used on several Maserati models : for power clutch operation (Bora); power pedal adjustment (Bora); pop-up headlights (Bora, Merak); brakes (Bora, Merak, Khamsin); steering (Khamsin) and the entireQuattroporte II prototype, which was a four-doorCitroën SM under the skin.[30]
Citroën was one of the early pioneers of the now-widespread trend ofaerodynamic automobile design, which helps to reducefuel consumption and to improve high-speed performance, by reducingwind resistance. The DS could happily cruise at 160 km/h (100 mph) without any discomfort for the occupants.[31] The firm began using awind tunnel in the 1950s, helping them to create highly streamlined cars, like the DS, that were years ahead of their competitors, and so good were the aerodynamics of theCX model, that it took its name – – from the mathematical term used to measure the drag coefficient.
In the 1960s, Citroën undertook a series of financial and development decisions, aiming to build on its strength of the 1950s with the successful 2CV, Type H, and DS models. Nevertheless, these maneuvers were insufficiently effective, and Citroën went bankrupt again in 1974.
These measures were to address two key gaps facing the company:
First, the lack of a mid-size car, between its own range of very small, cheap passenger vehicles (2CV/Ami ) and the large, expensive models (DS/ID).[30] In today's terms, this would be similar to a brand consisting only of theTata Nano andJaguar XJ. Because of its potential volume, the mid-size segment was the most profitable part of the car market and, in 1965, theCitroënesqueRenault 16 stepped in to fill it.
The second major issue was the lack of a powerful engine, suitable for export markets. The post-WW2Tax horsepower system in France wassteeply progressive and vehicles over 2.0 (later 2.8) litres displacement, faced a heavy annual tax, with the result that cars made in France were considered underpowered outside the country.[32] For both the 1955DS and 1974CX models, development of the original engine around which the design was planned proved too expensive for the available finances, so the actual engine used in both cases was a modest and outdatedfour-cylinder design.[33]
These steps include:
1963 – opened negotiations withPeugeot to cooperate in the purchase of raw materials and equipment, but talks broke off in 1965.
1964 – partnered withNSU Motorenwerke to develop theWankel engine via the Comobil (laterComotor) subsidiary. For Citroën, this represented the chance for a technological run around the FrenchTax horsepower system by producing a more powerful but still small power plant. The first production car developed 106 hp from a 1-litre engine,[34] while the standard GS delivered 55 hp with a 1-litre engine.[35]
1965 – took over the French makerPanhard in the hope of using its expertise in mid-sized cars; cooperation between the two companies had begun twelve years earlier and they had agreed to a partial merger of their sales networks in 1953; Panhard ceased manufacturing in 1967.[30]
1965 – purchased the truck manufacturerBerliet.[30]
1968 – purchased theItaliansports carmakerMaserati again with an eye to producing a more powerful car, keeping a small engine in line with the Frenchtax horsepower system.[32] The first production vehicle developed 170 hp with a 2.7 litre engine,[36] this was the 1970SM, which featured a V6 Maserati power plant,hydropneumatic suspension and a fully powered, self-centering steering system calledDIRAVI; the SM was engineered as if it were replacing theDS family car, a level of investment that the small luxuryGrand Touring car sector alone would never be able to support, even in the best of circumstances.
1968 – restructured worldwide operations under a new holding company, Citroën SA.Michelin, Citroën's longtime controlling shareholder, sold a 49% stake toFiat in what was referred to as thePARDEVI agreement (Participation et Développement Industriels).[30]
The teams of Charles Marchetti and Citroën began working together on the development of theRE-2 [fr]helicopter.
From a model range perspective, the 1970s started well, supported by the successful launch of the long-awaited mid-sizeCitroën GS, finally filling the huge gap between the 2CV and the DS – with a 1-litre,hydropneumatically suspended car. The GS went on to sell 2.5 million units; 601,918 cars were produced in 1972 alone, up from the 526,443 of 1971, and enough to lift the company pastPeugeot into second place among French auto makers when ranked by sales volume.[37] The older models continued to sell well: the peak production period of the DS was 1970, and2CV was in 1974.
As the 1970s progressed, circumstances became more unfavourable. In 1973,Fiat sold back to Michelin its 49% stake in thePARDEVI holding company that owned Citroën, the Citroën and Fiat joint announcement indicated that the benefits foreseen for their union in 1968 had failed to materialise.[38] This was not in line with the tyre company's long-term strategy of ending involvements in the car manufacturing business and created a very unstable ownership situation.[39] The company suffered another financial blow with the1973 energy crisis. The gamble onComotor andMaserati showed that there was a serious flaw with the plan particularly for companies producing engines with high fuel consumption.
In 1974, the carmaker withdrew from North America due to U.S. design regulations that outlawed core features of Citroën cars (seeCitroën SM).
Huge losses at Citroën were caused by the failure of theComotor rotary engine venture added to thestrategic management error of going the15 years from 1955 to 1970 without a model in the profitable middle range of the European market, plus the massive development costs a string of new models: theGS,GS Birotor,CX,SM,Maserati Bora,Maserati Merak,Maserati Quattroporte II, andMaserati Khamsin. Each of these models is a technological marvel in its own right.Thus, forty years after the bankruptcy related to theTraction Avant, Citroën went bankrupt again, losing its existence as an independent entity; selling Berliet and Maserati and closing Comotor.[30]
Fearing large job losses due to the poor cash flow situation and the unstable ownership structure, the French government arranged talks between Citroën and Michelin culminating in the merger of Automobiles Citroën and Automobiles Peugeot into a single company. Thus, one year after the break with Fiat, on 24 June 1974 Citroën announced the new partnership, this time with Peugeot.[38] to whom Michelin agreed to transfer control of the business.[30]In December 1974 Peugeot S.A. acquired a 38.2% share of Citroën and on 9 April 1976[40] it increased its stake of the then bankrupt company to 89.95%, thus creating thePSA Group (where PSA is short for PeugeotSociété Anonyme), becomingPSA Peugeot Citroën.[41]In May 1975Maserati was sold toDe Tomaso and the new Italian owner was thereby able to exploit the sales potential of the models and technology developed by Citroën, as well as to utilise the image of the Maseratibrand in a downwardbrand extension to sell 40,000 of the newly designedBi-Turbo models. The truck manufacturing companyBerliet was sold toRenault.[30]
This new PSA venture was a financial success from 1976 to 1979. Citroën had two successful new designs in the market, theGS andCX. In the wake of the oil crisis, the brand also had resurgent sales for the2CV and theDyane, and soon thePeugeot 104 basedCitroën Visa andCitroën LNA.Peugeot was typically prudent with its own finances. Then, PSA purchased the ageing assets and substantial liabilities ofChrysler Europe for $1, leading to losses from 1980 to 1985. PSA resurrected theTalbot name for the Chrysler cars, but stopped producing cars with the badge in 1987 as the cars were considered unreliable and poorly-made.
In the early 1980s, Citroën was targeted by union action.[43] On 25 May 1982, events led to a mass demonstration in the streets of Paris,[43] when approximately 27,000 workers affirmed their wish to work at a company, which was being picketed by striking workers who had been blocking access to the factories for four weeks.[43] The demonstration was successful and six days later work at the plants resumed. Jacques Lombard, one of the company's senior managers, had gone public with his concerns, criticising the strikes.[43]
PSA gradually diluted Citroën'sambitious, highly individualistic, and distinctive approach to engineering and styling. All through the 1980s, Citroën models became increasingly Peugeot-like. The 1982BX used thehydropneumatic suspension system and had a typicalCitroënesque appearance, whilst being powered by Peugeot-derived engines and using the floorpan later seen on thePeugeot 405. In this respect PSA followed the worldwide motor industry trend ofplatform sharing which is a logical way to reduce costs whilst selling apparently different models. By the late 1980s, many of the distinctive features of the brand had been removed or altered. Peugeot's conventional switchgear replaced Citroën's quirky but ergonomicLunule designs,[44] complete with self-cancelling indicators that Citroën had refused to adopt on ergonomic grounds. The cars were "more banal and conventional",[39] but also able to break into new markets, like fleet vehicles in the UK.[45]
In the late 1970s, the firm developed a small car for production inRomania known as theOltcit, which it sold inWestern Europe as theCitroën Axel. That joint venture has now ended, but a new one between PSA andToyota is now producing cars like theCitroën C1 in theCzech Republic.
TheChina joint venture began selling cars in 1984[46] and building them in 1994.[47] The range of family cars there included theC3 andXsara and locally designed cars like theFukang andElysée models. By 2014 the brand had increased its Chinese sales by 30%, amid overall market growth of 11%,[48] and ranked highest in China's 2014 JD Power satisfaction survey.[49]
In 2015, the SpanishNational Commission on Markets and Competition fined Automóviles Citroën España, S.A with over 14 million euros because it operated acartel with other car builders and sellers controlling 91% of the Spanish market between 2006 and 2013.They shared information about sales and repairs anti-competitively.[50]
In 2016, Peugeot–Citroën South Africa (PCSA) announced that it was going to stop importing new Citroën models into South Africa[51] in order to focus on increasing Peugeot's sales in the country. In May 2019, it was reported that PCSA would re-introduce the Citroën brand into South Africa,[52] this was later confirmed by PCSA, in August 2019, that new Citroën models will go on sale in the middle of October 2019.[53]
From 2003 to 2010, Citroën produced theC3 Pluriel, an unusual convertible with allusions to the 1948–1990 2CV model, both in body style (such as the bonnet) and in its all-round practicality.In 2001 it celebrated its history of innovation when it opened a museum of its many significant vehicles: the Conservatoire with 300 cars.[54]In line with the severe decline in European car sales after 2009, worldwide sales of vehicles declined from 1,460,373 in 2010 to 1,435,688 in 2011, with 961,156 of these sold in Europe.[55]
In 2011, the PSA Group was close to forming a partnership with BMW, for the development of electric and hybrid vehicles, but the talks fell through, shortly after Groupe PSA, Citroën's parent company, had announced a partnership with GM, which later also failed.Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën continues growing, and has developed eight new car designs exclusively for the China market.[47] By 2016 Citroën (andPeugeot) faced the same challenge asVolkswagen in China: there were too manysedans andhatchbacks, but not enough models in the strong sellingSUV andminivan/MPV categories.[47]
The brand ranked highest in the 2014 customer satisfaction survey by JD Power in China, above luxury brands likeMercedes-Benz andBMW, and above mass market brands, like Volkswagen, ranking only thirteenth and seventeenth respectively.[49] In the first ten months of 2014 in China, the sales of Dongfeng Citroën cars increased by 30% in an overall market growth of 11%.[48]Despite the near-death financial experience ofPSA Peugeot Citroën in 2014, and financial rescue byDongfeng Motors,[56] the Citroën and DS brands worked to develop new technologies with the hope to grow 15% by 2020, according to CitroënCEO Linda Jackson and DSCEOYves Bonnefont.[57] In the end sales of the Citroën and DS brands in Europe and China fell by 22% by 2019, and fell even further during the 2020 COVID outbreak.
In January 2020,Linda Jackson was succeeded as CEO of Citroën by the deputy CEOVincent Cobée, and she would instead "lead a study to clarify and support brand differentiation within a brand portfolio".[58]
In early 2009, Citroën announced the development of the premium brandDS, forDifferent Spirit orDistinctive Series (although the reference to the historicalCitroën DS is evident), to run in parallel to its mainstream cars. The slogan of the DS car marque is "Spirit of avant-garde".[61]
This new series of cars started early in 2010, with theDS3, a small car based on the floorpan of the new C3. TheDS3 is based on the concept that preceded theC3 Pluriel production model and theCitroën DS Inside concept car. TheDS3 is customisable with various roof colours contrasting with the body panels; it was named 2010Car of the Year byTop Gear Magazine, and was awarded best supermini four times in a row by the JD Power Satisfaction Survey UK[62][63][64] and second most efficient supermini (Citroën DS3 1.6 e-HDi 115 Airdream : True MPG 63.0mpg) byWhat car ? behind theC3.[65] In 2013 theDS3 was again the best-selling premium subcompact car, with 40% of the European market share, validating the business model of this product development.[citation needed]
The DS series is deeply connected to Citroën, as theDS4[66] launched in 2010, is based on the 2008Citroën Hypnos concept car and theDS5,[67] which followed in 2015 being based on the 2005C-SportLounge concept car.The rear badge is a new DS logo rather than the familiar Citroën double chevron and all will have markedly different styling from their equivalent sister cars.[68][69] Citroën has produced several dramatic looking concept sports cars of late, with the fully workingCitroën Survolt[70] being badged as a DS. Indeed, the 2014 DS Divine concept car develops theCitroën Survolt prototype as the future sport coupé of the DS range.
In China, Citroën has standalone DS showrooms, as well as entire plants built specifically for the production of these vehicles.[47] Since 2014 Citroën has sold the Chinese-builtDS 5LS andDS 6WR in China.[71][72]
Citroën DS3, the most soldpremium car of its category
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Citroën was the first to write in the sky with an airplane. On 4 October 1922, during the opening of the Auto Show, a plane traced the word "Citroën" in smoke letters across the Paris sky.[12]
The firm also contractedJean Giraud to launch a promotion comic strip for its sales force, several years before 1987.
Citroën was recognised in the 1999Car of the Century competition as producing the third most influential car of the 20th century, theCitroën DS, behind theFord Model T and BMCMini.
Citroën has produced three winners of the 50-year-oldEuropean Car of the Year award, and many rated second or third place.
Citroën has produced one winner of theUnited StatesMotor Trend Car of the Year award – the originalCar of the Year designation, which began in 1949. This was especially significant because this award used to be only given to cars designed and built in the United States.[73]
Citroën C4 Cactus, Car of the year in Spain, Denmark, and second at the Car of the year in Europe 2015
Citroën has produced eightAuto Europa winners in 28 years, since 1987.Auto Europa is the prize awarded by the jury of the Italian Union of Automotive Journalists (UIGA), which annually celebrates the best car produced at least at 10,000 units in the 27 countries of the European Union:Citroën XM (1990),Citroën ZX (1992),Citroën Xantia (1994),Citroën Xsara Picasso (2001),Citroën C5 (2002),Citroën C3 (2003),Citroën C4 (2005) andCitroën DS4 (2012).
In 2023, Citroën won the 'Sustainability Initiative Award' of the year at the Auto Trader New Cars Awards 2023.[74][75]
Citroën Racing, previously known asCitroën Sport and before that asCitroën Competitions, is the division responsible for Citroën's own sporting activities. It is a successful winning competitor in theWorld Rally Championship and in theWorld Touring Car Championship.[76]
In 2019, Citroën announced its withdrawal from the World Rally Championship (WRC).[77]
Citroën vehicles were entered in endurancerally driving events beginning in 1956, with the introduction of theDS.[78] The brand was successful and won many key events over a decades long period, with what was essentially the same production car design.
Citroën discovered that while racing the uniquely slow2CV against other cars made little sense, they could be interesting to watch racing against each other. Citroën Competitions sponsored three long distance competitions – Paris-Kaboul-Paris in 1970, Paris-Persepolis-Paris in 1972, and Raid Afrique in 1973.[79][80]
Enthusiasts carried on the tradition with2CV Cross – a group of 2CV's racing around a dirt track – a sport that continues today.[81][82]
The Citroën Competitions division was impacted negatively by the firm's 1974 bankruptcy.[78]
Competitive rallying was also changing – away from standard production cars to specially developed low volume models. In response to the entry of the competitive short wheel baseGroup B4 wheel driveAudi Quattro into rallying, Citroën developed the heavily modifiedGroup BCitroën BX 4TC in1986.
The team returned successfully with theCitroën ZX Rally Raid to win theRally Raid Manufacturer's Championship five times (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997) withPierre Lartigue andAri Vatanen. Citroën Racing won theDakar Rally four times, in 1991, continuing the serial of four victories ofPeugeot sport, and then again in 1994, 1995, and 1996.
In 2012, Citroën announced plans to enter theWorld Touring Car Championship.[83] The team transformed aDS3 WRC into a laboratory vehicle to help with early development, while the engine was an evolution of their WRC engine which had been used in the WRC since 2011.[84] Citroën started developing the car for the new TC1 regulations, which were brought forward a year early in 2014 to expedite the entry of Citroën into the championship.[85] The introduction of the new regulations a year earlier than planned gave a seven-month development headstart to Citroën over the other manufacturers.[86] This large development advantage combined with a big budget and a strong driver line-up made Citroën the clear favourite going into the first season of the new regulations in 2014.[87][88] Citroën would go on to win most of the races that season as well as the manufacturers' title, whileJosé María López won the drivers' title. The team would repeat this feat in 2015 and 2016, before the factory team left the series at the end of 2016. A number of Citroëns were still raced by other teams in 2017, but were outpaced by the Hondas and the Volvos.[89]
The gears withdouble chevrons that reputedly were the basis of the Citroën logo
The origin of the logo may be traced back to a trip made by the 22-year-old André Citroën to the city ofŁódź inPoland, where he discovered an innovative design for achevron-shapedgear used inmilling. He bought the patent for its application in steel. Mechanically a gear withhelical teeth produces an axial force. By adding a second helical gear in opposition, this force is cancelled. The twochevrons of the logo represent the intermeshing contact of the two.[90] Early Citroën cars used a herringbone bevel gearfinal drive in the rear axle.[91]
The presentation of the logo has evolved over time. Before the war, it was rendered in yellow on a blue background. After the war, the chevrons became more subtleherringbones,[92] usually on a white background. With the company searching for a new image during the 1980s, the logo became white on red to give an impression of dynamism.
On 5 February 2009, Citroën launched a new brand identity to celebrate its 90th anniversary, replacing the 1985 design. The new logo was a 3D metallic variation of the double chevron logo accompanied by a new font for the Citroën name and the new slogan "Créative Technologie". A TV campaign reminiscing over90 years of Citroën was commissioned to announce the new identity to the public.[93] In October 2016, Citroën released an alternative version of its logo in 2D, adopting theflat design style, which was very popular at the time.[94] In 2022, the brand unveiled a new badge design which is a modern-day representation of its original 1919 logo, returning the oval shape to the two chevrons.[95]
Having been present in Australia since 1923, Citroën has been the country's longest continuously-running car manufacturer. However, the brand announced in August 2024 that it would stop taking orders in Australia by 1 November 2024 due to slow sales.[99][100][101]
^"Saint-Ouen retrouve son fleuve, la Seine".l'Humanité (in French). 28 October 2006. Archived fromthe original on 30 September 2008.La mort lente des petites entreprises, la délocalisation des plus importantes ont transformé Saint-Ouen. Il ne reste en centre-ville que l'usine Citroën
^abcd"Automobilia".Toutes les Voitures Françaises 1982 (Salon [Oct] 1981) "J'accuse la CGT de Vouloir Nous Asphyxier Pour Mieux Nous Nationaliser: C'est Une Technique Aussi Sure Que le Supplice du Garrot; Ni les Tribunaux, Ni les Ministres N'y Peuvent Rien Changer".80s. Paris: Histoire & collections: 9. 2006.
Broustail, Joël; Greggio, Rodolphe (2000).Citroën: Essai sur 80 ans d'antistratégie [Citroën: Essay on 80 years of doing its own thing] (in French). Paris: Vuibert.ISBN2711778185.
Gallard, Philippe (2004).A l'assaut du monde: L'aventure Peugeot-Citroën [Storming the World: The Peugeot-Citroën Adventure] (in French). Paris: Bourin.ISBN2849410136.
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