In 1912, he started the "V-shaped Gear Factory", at which time he produced a batch of double helix gears.
during the first world war, Citroen was recruited as the captain of the artillery. When he found that he was short of ammunition, he volunteered to set up a factory to produce artillery shells. Here, his organizational and management skills have been greatly exerted, not only making the daily output of artillery shells reach a record of 5, pieces, but also making women participate in the work due to proper organization, thus allowing more men to withdraw from the war.
After the war, Andrew saw the future of the family car from Henry Ford's success, and built the car factory "CITROEN" named after himself in 1919 to commemorate the gear factory that year. Andrew carefully built the brand Citroen, and he dreamed that one day he could reach the level of 1, vehicles per day, so that ordinary families could really have economical and comfortable cars. In this way, Andrew proudly started his own all-powerful automobile industry in the future.
The earliest Citroen
In p>19, at the age of 22, Andre Citroen obtained a patent for cutting herringbone gears from Poland. Then, the young man who graduated from the comprehensive engineering school founded the Citroen gear factory. In 1919, Citroen Automobile Company was founded, and began his tireless pursuit in the automobile industry.
in may, 1919, Citroen's model a car was put into production in Quetzava, France, which started the production of Citroen cars. Although the annual output was only 2,81 vehicles at that time, Citroen A still created a number of firsts in France: the first large-scale, low-cost and fully equipped production line introduced from Europe; The first left-hand drive car; The first car for mass consumers set a record of only 795 francs per car at that time. In fact, the performance of Model A itself was also very advanced at that time: the power system was equipped with a 1327cc four-cylinder engine, and the fuel consumption per 1 kilometers was only 7.5 liters. Three-speed transmission configuration, the top speed can reach 65 km/h. The structure of three compartments and four seats is very popular. Soon at the end of the year, Citroen introduced a commercial vehicle on the basis of the original Model A: a trailer truck with a load of 3kg. From May 1919 to January 1921, the total output of Citroen A cars was 24,.
soaring Citroen
In p>192, Citroen won the title of "fuel-saving champion" in a car race held in Le Mans, France, which made Citroen famous and directly promoted the sales growth of Citroen. By the end of that year, 15, Citroen cars were running in the streets of France.
in p>1921, citro 龙 n company started to explore overseas markets. in that year, 3, vehicles were sold overseas, and the annual output reached 1,933 vehicles. At the end of this year, Citroen rented the Lefras factory in Paris from clermont Boyade, and in 1922, it put into production the famous 5CV economical car, semi-tracked car, body parts and ball bearings. In the same year, citro 龙 n set up a member car purchase system to provide car purchase service with full payment from December to August. After that, SOVAC, the first member company in Europe, was established while the iron was hot, with a view to popularizing family cars in France.
In p>1923, Andre Citroen met Henry Ford in the United States and brought back the assembly line production method and machine tools of Ford. Since then, Citroen engineers have always visited the United States regularly. At that time, the "Citroen Travel Team" was established. When the motorcade began to trudge across France to improve its reputation, the newly-built assembly line in Quedezava factory was continuously providing users with new Citroen cars with the efficiency of 1 cars per day and 3,5 cars per month. The establishment of the London branch has further expanded its business to Europe. It is worth mentioning that the Citroen semi-crawler left the modern car track for the first time in the feat of crossing the Sahara desert in Africa.
in p>1924, the Citroen B12 car produced by Saint-Anne factory in Paris adopted all-steel body for the first time. In line with the development trend of automobile internationalization, Andre Citroen established an international automobile sales network covering Brussels, Amsterdam, Cologne, Milan, Geneva and Copenhagen, and achieved a good export performance of 17, vehicles that year. The taxi network in Paris was also taken over by Andrew in one fell swoop, opening up intercity high-speed long-distance service.
in p>1925, the number of Citroen chain stores increased from 2 in 1919 to 5,. By this time, the 5CV model has also exceeded the total output of 8, vehicles. In 1926, Citroen set up a special technical research laboratory to provide technical support. In the same year, a set of standard services was launched and a maintenance manual was issued. As for overseas performance, the first assembly plant in Brussels was put into operation, and began to assemble 5CV, B12 and B14, while the second branch in Slough, England, also invested in 5CV production and assembly.
On July 4th, 1925, the Paris World Expo gave Andrew an opportunity to display the word "CITROEN" composed of thousands of neon lights on the Eiffel Tower in Paris. This dazzling light is particularly bright in the night sky in Paris. Charles Ribbon, a world-famous pilot who sailed across the Atlantic alone, landed safely in France with this dazzling navigation, which was passed down as a much-told story.
in p>1927, the scale of Citroen grew to 762, square meters with 31, employees at home and abroad. At that year's Paris Motor Show, the B14G model was grandly launched, which was another rapid transformation after Citroen realized the transformation from B14 to B14F in just a few months. Then Andrew Citroen successfully organized the public to visit the Citroen factory, which made Citroen more popular.
Citroen in p>1927
In p>1928, the daily production capacity of Citroen reached 1, vehicles, with as many as 14 models. The sales network of 5, offices all over the country, 1 overseas branches and 4 production plants constitute a good international sales market for Citroen. In that year, the overseas sales performance reached 45% of the cars exported from France. The original B14G was replaced by C4.
in p>1929, the annual output of Citroen exceeded 1,, reaching 12, vehicles. At that year, the new C6E car also made its grand debut at the Paris Motor Show. From April to December alone, it produced 5,9 cars.
in p>1931 and 1932, the annual output of Citroen remained above 7,.
In p>1931, Citroen sponsored an expedition called "Yellow Journey", which consisted of 4 people and 14 semi-tracked vehicles. In April of that year, I set out from Beirut, Lebanon, and in February of the following year, I passed through the Himalayas and the Gobi Desert for 1 months, overcoming many difficulties and reaching Beijing, China.
in p>1933, influenced by the world economic crisis, the French automobile industry declined, and the automobile output dropped greatly. Andrew insisted on the principle of "increasing production and reducing costs" and demanded that the daily output be kept at 1 vehicles. This strategic mistake laid a hidden danger for Citroen to get into trouble in the future.
in p>1934, citro 龙 n was faced with severe financial difficulties. This first-class automobile manufacturing company in France and even Europe and the second largest in the world received financial assistance from Michelin, the largest credit company at that time, at the behest of the French government, thus bringing it back to life. But at the same time, 8, employees were laid off, and the output in that year was only 56,123.
after p>1935, under the background of the turbulent world situation, Citroen was like a boat in a turbulent sea, and suffered from wind and waves again and again. First, Andrew Citroen died of a sudden illness on July 3, 1935, when the output plummeted to 3,759 vehicles.
in p>1938, the annual output of Citroen reached 68,19 vehicles. Traction Avant, a new model launched that year, is known as the "Queen of Roads" because of its excellent performance.
after the outbreak of world war ii, the citro 龙 n quidzawa factory was bombed. Citroen's factory in Belgium was partially destroyed. Due to the special situation in wartime and the resistance of the company's management to the German authorities, the annual output of Citroen decreased gradually from 194 to 1945.
in p>1946, the annual output of Citroen increased from the lowest over 2, vehicles before the end of the war to 24,443 vehicles, and half of them were commercial vehicles. In 1947, citro 龙 n actively expanded in overseas markets, and established new sales agents in Argentina and Sweden respectively. At that time, 7% Citroen cars were exported.
At the Paris Motor Show in October p>1948, Citroen's new 2CV car caused a great sensation with its exaggerated shape, perfect design and multiple uses. From October 1949 to July 199, this car * * * produced 3,87 million vehicles.
Citroen today
In the 3 years after the war, Citroen grew rapidly. By 1975, the annual output of Citroen was nearly 7, vehicles, 55% of which were sold overseas. At this time, the company's founder Andre Citroen's ideal of car popularization has already become a reality. Not only that, in addition to economical cars, Citroen also actively develops concept cars and other models. Citroen, designed under the pluralistic concept, is also unique in the world car world.
in p>1976, there were great changes in Citroen. The French Peugeot Company controlled 89.95% of the shares of Citroen and merged the long-established Citroen Company. Since then, Citroen has become a member of PSA, but it still has great independence, and its business activities are still controlled by itself.
when Citroen was founded, it was at the height of the first world war, so its products were mainly artillery shells and military equipment. It was not until the end of World War I that the company began to engage in automobile manufacturing activities. In 1934, the first front-wheel drive car in France was produced. Citroen was the first company in France to adopt assembly line production, so its annual output exceeded 1, vehicles only six years after its establishment.
In 1924 and 1931-1932, Andre Citroen organized "Asia Tour" and "Africa Tour", also known as "Yellow Tour" and "Black Tour", which made Citroen famous in the world and its sales increased greatly. In 1928, it reached 4 cars a day, accounting for 1/3 of French automobile production. In 1975, the annual output of Citroen Automobile Company reached 7, vehicles.
in early February p>29, Citroen held a grand ceremony in Paris to officially release its brand-new logo. The new brand logo is still based on the double-character logo, and at the same time, it adopts a metallic color as a whole, with a more three-dimensional and rounded outline, which is very fashionable and modern. Double-character modeling is the eternal theme of Citroen logo, in memory of Andre Citroen, the founder of Citroen who invented the herringbone gear transmission system. At the same time as the new logo, Citroen's brand new slogan-Cré ative Technologie was released. The release of brand-new logo and slogan shows that Citroen, a world-famous brand with a glorious history of 9 years, has ushered in a new stage of development. In 19, Andre Citroen, who was only 22 years old, came across a method of cutting herringbone gears while traveling in Poland, and immediately bought the patent. Since then, this herringbone striped gear has become a symbol of Citroen and a Citroen car logo that has continued to this day.
in p>1919, Citroen introduced the Type A car. This is the first car mass-produced in Europe, the first car sold, and the first car specially developed for the public and facing ordinary people. Citroen's idea is to popularize cars.
In p>1922, at the opening ceremony of the 7th Paris Motor Show, a jet plane rushed into the sky of Paris, leaving a 5-kilometer-long giant jet of CITROEN under the attention of thousands of people.
in p>1922, citro 龙 n founded the first consumer credit company in Europe, which engaged in sales credit business by installment. This extremely favorable condition has contributed to the popularization of French cars.
in p>1923, in order to promote the models, citro 龙 n organized a motorcade to parade on the French highway.
in p>1923, Citroen tracked car successfully crossed the Sahara desert. In 1923, Andre Citroen began to produce car toys: a complete copy of Barba. From 1923 to 1933, a total of 233369 toys were sold.
in p>1924, Andre Citroen, the founder of Citroen, established Citroen Co., Ltd., specializing in automobile production.
in p>1925, Citroen cultivated and developed their sales network in France. The number of secondary agents increased from 2 in 1919 to 5, in 1925.
in p>1925, Citroen put its name on the Eiffel Tower with 25, light bulbs. The name of Citroen shone on the Eiffel Tower until 1934.
in p>1928, Andre Citroen rented the last page of a major French newspaper (with a total circulation of 15 million) every month to promote the Citroen factory.
In p>1931-1932, Citroen tracked vehicles set off from Beirut and arrived in Beijing, completing the journey to the East.
in the first half of p>1933, 4% of the commercial vehicles on the roads in France were Citroen cars.
in p>1934, Citroen 7A came out. This is the first front-wheel drive car, which shocked the whole automobile industry with bold technology. Traction Avant is a real technological revolution, and it received rave reviews as soon as it appeared: innovative, bold, rich and unique solutions are a transcendence of the past. The car was produced until 1957, and 76, vehicles were produced.
in p>1934, the introduction of Traction Avant front-wheel drive failed to prevent the serious financial crisis faced by the enterprise, and it was unable to meet the accounts. As Citroen is the first automobile factory in France and Europe and the second in the world, at the request of the government, Michelin, the main creditor, settled the account and injected financial support, and Citroen began to continue to operate under the supervision of Michelin.
in p>1935, Andre Citroen died of cancer.
in p>1948, Citroen 2CV was exhibited at the Paris Motor Show, which caused a great sensation with its exaggerated modeling, perfect design and multiple uses, and interpreted a brand-new design concept. It is a real economical car, which is very suitable for the general working class and satisfies people's fashion pursuit of automobile culture. Later, many new versions have been derived and will last forever. From 1949 to 199, Citroen 2CV * * produced 3.9 million vehicles with more than 3 models.
in p>1955, Citroen DS19 was exhibited at the Paris Motor Show. 12, orders were received in one day. This sensational event has opened a new chapter in the history of automobiles. Its innovation is not only aerodynamic lines, but also the new technology it uses is revolutionary.
in p>1958, the bank of Jarville, where Citroen Jarville factory is located, was named Andre Citroen Bank.
in p>1965, the Citroen design center in the suburb of Paris was put into use. The purpose is to expand and concentrate the three lifeline departments: design department, laboratory and scientific research department.
In p>1974, Michelin and Peugeot Group decided to unite Citroen Automobile Company and Peugeot Automobile Company to form an international whole. The two brands keep their own sales networks.