Ситроен: История французского автопроизводителя Stellantis

French car brand of Stellantis

Citroën is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in 4 June 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën has been owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired 89.95% share in 1976. Citroën's head office is located in the Stellantis Poissy Plant in Saint 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 the Traction Avant. This was the world's first car to be mass produced with front wheel drive, four wheel independent suspension, as well as unibody construction, omitting a separate chassis, and instead using the body of the car itself as its main load bearing structure. In 1954, they produced the world's first hydropneumatic self levelling suspension system; then the revolutionary DS, the first mass produced car with modern disc brakes, in 1955; and in 1967 they introduced in several of their models swiveling headlights that allowed for greater visibility on winding roads. These cars have received various national and international awards, including three European Car of the Year awards.

André Citroën (1878–1935) built armaments for France during World War I; after the war, however, he realized that unless he planned ahead he would have a modern factory without a product. The decision to switch to automobile manufacturing was taken as early as 1916, which is the year when Citroën asked the engineer Louis Dufresne, previously with Panhard, to design a technically sophisticated 18HP automobile he could produce in his factory once peace returned. The deal nearly closed, but General Motors ultimately decided that its management and capital would be too overstretched by the takeover, The U. S. eventually produced more than 41,000 vehicles in over 70 versions between 1940 and 1944. After their 1940 occupation of France, the Nazis captured many of the Citroën half track vehicles and armored them for their own use. He also sponsored expeditions in Asia (Croisière Jaune), North America (Croisière Blanche) and Africa (Croisière Noire), demonstrating the potential for motor vehicles equipped with the Kégresse track system to cross inhospitable regions. These expeditions conveyed scientists and journalists. Demonstrating extraordinary toughness, a 1923 Citroën that had already travelled was the first car to be driven around Australia. The car, a 1923 Citroën 5CV Type C Torpedo, was driven by Neville Westwood from Perth, Western Australia, on a round trip from August to December 1925. This vehicle is now fully restored and in the collection of the National Museum of Australia. In 1924, Citroën began a business relationship with the American engineer Edward G. Budd. From 1899, Budd had worked to develop stainless steel bodies for railroad cars, for Pullman 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 the Citroën B10, the first all steel body in Europe. These automobiles were initially successful in the marketplace, but soon competitors who were still using a wooden 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. In 1927, the bank Lazard 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 a diesel engine, developed with Harry Ricardo.

The Traction 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 wheel independent suspension and front wheel drive. Whereas for many decades, the vast majority of motor cars were similar in conception to the Ford Model T – a body bolted onto a ladder frame which held all the mechanical elements of the car, a solid rear axle that rigidly connected the rear wheels and rear wheel drive. The Model 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 American Budd Company to create a prototype, which evolved into the 7 fiscal horsepower (CV), 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. However, the technologically advanced Traction 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 founder André Citroën died from stomach cancer.

Pierre Jules Boulanger had been a First World War air reconnaissance photography specialist with the French 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 for Michelin in 1918, reporting directly to Édouard 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 friend Pierre Michelin remaining in this position until his own death in 1950. In 1938, he also had become Michelin's joint managing director. During the German 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 the Wehrmacht, 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 the Gestapo headquarters in Paris was sacked by the French Resistance, his name was prominent on a Nazi blacklist of the most important enemies of the Reich, to be arrested in the event of an allied invasion of France. Citroën researchers, including Paul 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 contemporary journalists as avant garde, even radical, solutions to automotive design. Thus began a decades long period of unusual brand loyalty, normally seen in the automobile industry only in niche brands, like Porsche and Ferrari.

Citroën unveiled the Citroën 2CV or Deux Chevaux signifying two tax horsepower and initially only , at the Paris Salon in 1948. The car became a bestseller, achieving the designer's aim of providing rural French people with a motorized alternative to the horse. 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 complex self 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.

1955 saw the introduction of the DS, the first full usage of Citroën's hydropneumatic self levelling suspension system, tested on the rear suspension of the Traction in 1954. The DS was also the first production car with modern disc brakes. A single high pressure hydraulic system was used to actuate the power steering, the suspension 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 the gearbox cover to shift the gears in the transmission, 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 as déesse, which means Goddess. It placed third in the 1999 Car of the Century competition.

Citroën was one of the early pioneers of the now widespread trend of aerodynamic automobile design, which helps to reduce fuel consumption and to improve high speed performance, by reducing wind resistance. The DS could happily cruise at without any discomfort for the occupants. The firm began using a wind 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 the CX model, that it took its name – – from the mathematical term used to measure the drag coefficient.

PSA gradually diluted Citroën's ambitious, highly individualistic, and distinctive approach to engineering and styling. All through the 1980s, Citroën models became increasingly Peugeot like. The 1982 BX used the hydropneumatic suspension system and had a typical Citroënesque appearance, whilst being powered by Peugeot derived engines and using the floorpan later seen on the Peugeot 405. In this respect PSA followed the worldwide motor industry trend of platform 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 ergonomic Lunule designs, complete with self cancelling indicators that Citroën had refused to adopt on ergonomic grounds. The cars were "more banal and conventional",

In the meantime Citroën expanded into many new global markets. Beyond existing manufacturing plants in Argentina, Chile, Vietnam, and Yugoslavia, it added Iran, Greece, Romania, and China. In the late 1970s, the firm developed a small car for production in Romania known as the Oltcit, which it sold in Western Europe as the Citroën Axel. That joint venture has now ended, but a new one between PSA and Toyota is now producing cars like the Citroën C1 in the Czech Republic. The China joint venture began selling cars in 1984 and building them in 1994. The current range of family cars there includes the C3 and Xsara and locally designed cars like the Fukang and Elysée models. The brand has recently increased its Chinese sales by 30%, amid overall market growth of 11%, and ranks highest in the 2014 customer satisfaction survey by JD Power in China. Citroën is a global brand, except in North America, where the company has not returned since the SM was effectively banned in 1974 for not meeting U. S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) bumper height regulations. In 2016, Peugeot–Citroën South Africa (PCSA) announced that they were going to stop importing new Citroën models into South Africa 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, this was later confirmed by PCSA, in August 2019, that new Citroën models will go on sale in the middle of October 2019.

From 2003 to 2010, Citroën produced the C3 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. 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. 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. the Citroën and DS brands are developing new technologies and are both hoping to grow 15% by 2020, according to Citroën CEO Linda Jackson and DS CEO Yves Bonnefont. In January 2020, Linda Jackson was succeeded as CEO of Citroën by the deputy CEO Vincent Cobée, and she would instead "lead a study to clarify and support brand differentiation within a brand portfolio". Citroën entered the Indian market in early 2021 with the launch of the C5 Aircross SUV manufactured at the Hindustan Motors Thiruvallur plant in Tamil Nadu, India.

In early 2009, Citroën announced the development of the premium brand DS, for Different Spirit or Distinctive Series (although the reference to the historical Citroën DS is evident), to run in parallel to its mainstream cars. The slogan of the DS car marque is "Spirit of avant garde". This new series of cars started early in 2010, with the DS3, a small car based on the floorpan of the new C3. The DS3 is based on the concept that preceded the C3 Pluriel production model and the Citroën DS Inside concept car. The DS3 is customisable with various roof colours contrasting with the body panels; it was named 2010 Car of the Year by Top Gear Magazine, and was awarded best supermini four times in a row by the JD Power Satisfaction Survey UK and second most efficient supermini (Citroën DS3 1.6 e HDi 115 Airdream : True MPG 63.0mpg) by What car ? behind the C3. In 2013 the DS3 was again the best selling premium subcompact car, with 40% of the European market share, validating the business model of this product development. The DS series is deeply connected to Citroën, as the DS4 launched in 2010, is based on the 2008 Citroën Hypnos concept car and the DS5, which followed in 2015 being based on the 2005 C 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. Citroën has produced several dramatic looking concept sports cars of late, with the fully working Citroën Survolt being badged as a DS. Indeed, the 2014 DS Divine concept car develops the Citroën 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.

Citroën was recognised in the 1999 Car of the Century competition as producing the third most influential car of the 20th century, the Citroën DS, behind the Ford Model T and BMC Mini. Citroën has produced three winners of the 50 year old European Car of the Year award, and many rated second or third place. Citroën has produced one winner of the United States Motor Trend Car of the Year award – the original Car 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. Citroën has produced eight Auto 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) and Citroën DS4 (2012). In 2023, Citroën won the 'Sustainability Initiative Award' of the year at the Auto Trader New Cars Awards 2023.

Citroën Racing, previously known as Citroën Sport and before that as Citroën Competitions, is the division responsible for Citroën's own sporting activities. It is a successful winning competitor in the World Rally Championship and in the World Touring Car Championship.

Citroën discovered that while racing the uniquely slow 2CV 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. Enthusiasts carried on the tradition with 2CV Cross – a group of 2CV's racing around a dirt track – a sport that continues today.

The Citroën Competitions division was impacted negatively by the firm's 1974 bankruptcy. The team transformed a DS3 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. 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. The introduction of the new regulations a year earlier than planned gave a seven month development headstart to Citroën over the other manufacturers. 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. Citroën would go on to win most of the races that season as well as the manufacturers' title, while José 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.

Citroën has produced numerous concept cars over the decades, previewing future design trends or technologies. Notable concepts include the Citroën Karin (1980), Citroën Activa (1988), Citroën C Métisse (2006), GT by Citroën (2008) and Citroën Survolt (2010).

The origin of the logo may be traced back to a trip made by the 22 year old André Citroën to the city of Łódź in Poland, where he discovered an innovative design for a chevron shaped gear used in milling. He bought the patent for its application in steel. Mechanically a gear with helical teeth produces an axial force. By adding a second helical gear in opposition, this force is cancelled. The two chevrons of the logo represent the intermeshing contact of the two. Early Citroën cars used a herringbone bevel gear final drive in the rear axle. 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 subtle herringbones, 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 over 90 of Citroën was commissioned to announce the new identity to the public. 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.