Citroen Cars and Autos

The Citroen motor car company
This section provides access to the cars and autos manufactured under the name of the Citroen motor car company. An online guide for auto enthusiasts covering old and new cars and autos. If you like car talk then you will love this website! A free, online resource with facts and company information about the cars and autos made by the Citroen motor car company.

Founding of the Citroen motor car company
The Citroen motor car company was founded in 1919 by Andre Citroen a French automobile manufacturer it was the first mass production car company out side the USA.

History of Citroen motor car company
Andre Citroen started out producing armaments for France during WWI, after the War ended Andre Citroen had a factory without a product to make. Andre Citroen then produced in cars starting with the Type A designed by Jules Salomon the chief design officer from Le Zebre in 1919.

Citroen are record holders for the largest advert in the world in the Guinness Book of Records thanks to Andre Citroen being a keen marketer. To gain this record he used the Eiffel Tower in Paris for his advert.

Citroen began a business relationship with an American engineer called Edward G. Budd in 1924, Edward G. Budd had worked from 1899 on developing steel bodies for railroad cars, and later for many automakers with  Dodge being both his first and biggest client. In 1928 with Edward G. Budd's help, Citroen introduced the first all steel body in Europe .

Debt forced Citroen to close in 1934, a result of the quick development of the Traction Avant and it's production facilities simultaneously being overly ambitions and very expensive. Tire Company Michelin was Citroen's biggest creditor and took the company over, fortunately for Michelin the Traction Avant became a success.

Citroen has unfortunately always suffered from undercapitalization resulting in it's vehicles being underdeveloped at launch and further limited by  inefective distribution and service networks.

German occupation in France during WWII meant research and development was limited and had to continue in secret with the result being the distinctive post-war Citroen 2CV and DS.

Citroen were early pioneers in aerodynamic automobile designs which helps reduce fuel consumption and improve high speed performance and the company began using wind tunnels in the 1950's.

Citroen began negotiations with Peugeot in 1963 in order to cooperate in the purchase of equipment and materials and in 1965 talks were broken off. That same year, Citroen took over French carmaker Panhard, 12 years earlier both companies had been cooperating and had agreed a partial merger of their sales network in 1953, Panhard stopped making vehicles in 1967.

Citroen's worldwide operation was restructured in 1968 and became Citroen SA. Citroen's long time controlling shareholders Michelin sold a 49% stake to FIAT and was referred to as the PARDEVI agreement. (Participation et Developpement Industriels) The same year Citroen bought car maker Maserati. During the energy crisis of 1973 Citroen suffered financially and in 1974 had to withdraw from the North American market as the the core design of Citroen cars failed to meet with local regulations. In the 15 years between 1955 to 1970 Citroen's profit was reduced due to a gap in their range of vehicles which did not include a middle range car for the European market.

The 1973 Oil crisis weakened Citroen due to the overall reduction in the automobile market, also Fiat withdraw from PARDEVI and returning it's 49% stake to Michelin. In less than a year Citroen was bankrupt. The French government fearing huge job losses arranged a meeting between Michelin and Peugeot who agreed to merge Automobiles Citroen and Automobiles Peugeot in to a single company. Peugeot in 1974 bought 38.2% of Citroen and managed their research, investment  and purchasing departments.

In May 1976 the takeover of Citroen by Peugeot was completed with Peugeot SA purchasing a 90% stake of Citroen SA, the two companies combined into a holding company to become PSA Peugeot Citroen.

From 1976 to 1979 Citroen produced two successful new designs and the PSA venture became a financial success.

In an effort to make Citroen be perceived as an economy brand PSA gradually eliminated Citroens ambitious attitude to styling and engineering and in the late 1970's Citroen was able to expand in to many new geographic markets.

To this day Citroen is a global brand apart from markets in North America where the company refuses to return due to the SM being band in 1974 for not meeting the stringent NHTSA bumper regulations.

The 2007 PSA Peugeot Citroen groups annual report found 1,372,500 Citroen cars had bin sold in 2003. Citroen announced early in 2009 their intention to introduce a luxury brand called the DS to run parallel with the current range of cars.

What models and types of cars and automobiles does the Citroen motor car company produce?
The models and types of cars and automobiles produced by the company include those detailed on the following list. Whether you enjoy comparing cars and autos, want to conduct some research before you buy a new car or a used car or finally an automobile enthusiast who loves fast, cool, new, old, vintage, classic, antique, sports, top, muscle or exotic cars we have the info you are searching for! Select the automobile you are interested in and click the link for access to an online overview of this Citroen vehicle with car guides, online facts, information, statistics, specs, specifications, design details and ratings of cars and autos.