When Andrew Citroen 1878 was born in Paris, France, his family could not foresee it. Decades later, the Citroen automobile brand he founded made the family name a household name. 1900, Andrew will graduate from Polytechnic Institute (Paris Polytechnic University). When he visited a company specializing in the production of transmission gears in Poland, he saw herringbone gears. With the knowledge he learned in college, he knows that this kind of gear has many advantages over ordinary spur gears, but its manufacturing process is complicated. Because of its unique sensitivity, Citroen decided to buy out the invention patent, and quickly went through the formalities and got the patent certificate. After returning to Paris, Citroen immediately put its own invention patents into trial production. In this way, herringbone gear has not only become the main product of the gear company founded by Citroen 1904.
Later, it became the trademark of Citroen.
Edit this passage about the development of the company.
19 12 years, he started "v-shaped gear factory", at that time, he produced a batch of double helix gears.
During World War I, Citroen was called as an artillery captain. When he found that he was short of ammunition, he volunteered to set up a factory to produce shells. Here, his organizational management ability was fully exerted, which not only made the daily output of artillery shells reach a record 50,000 pieces, but also enabled women to take part in the work due to proper organization, thus allowing more men to quit the war.
After the war, Andrew assessed the situation and saw the future of family cars from Henry Ford's success. 19 19, he built a car factory named after himself "Citroen" to commemorate the gear factory that year. Andrew carefully built the brand Citroen, and he dreamed that one day it could reach the level of daily average 1000 vehicles, so that ordinary families could really have affordable and comfortable cars. In this way, Andrew proudly started his own all-round automobile industry.
The earliest Citroen
1900, 22-year-old 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. 19 19 Citroen automobile company was established and began its unremitting pursuit in the automobile industry.
1965438+in may 2009, Citroen's model a car was put into production in kazawa, France, which started the production of Citroen cars. Although the annual output at that time was only 28 10, Citroen A still created many firsts in France: the first large-scale, low-cost and well-equipped production line imported from Europe; The first left-hand drive car; The first car for mass consumers set a record of only 7950 francs each at that time. In fact, the performance of Type A was also very advanced at that time: the power system was equipped with a 1327cc four-cylinder engine, and the fuel consumption per 100 kilometers was only 7.5 liters. Three-speed transmission configuration, the top speed can reach 65 km/h, and the structure of three cabins and four seats is very popular. Shortly after the end of the year, Citroen introduced a commercial vehicle on the basis of the original A-type: a trailer truck with a load of 300kg. From May of 19 19 to May of 192 1 year, the total output of Citroen A cars was 24,000.
Soaring Citroen
1920, 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, there were 6.5438+500,000 snows.
[Citroen? Old signs] n in total]
Citroen? Old sign of n
The iron dragon galloped on the streets of France.
192 1 year, Citroen began to explore overseas markets. In that year, 3,000 vehicles were sold overseas, and the annual output reached 10933 vehicles. At the end of this year, citro 龙 n rented the Lovras factory in Paris from Clermont Boyard, and put into production the famous 5CV economical car, semi-crawler, body parts and ball bearings at 1922. In the same year, Citroen Dragon N established a member car purchase system, providing 12- 18 full car purchase service. 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.
1923, Andrew Citroen met Henry Ford in America and brought back Ford's assembly line production method and machine tools. 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 around France to enhance the prestige of the models, the newly-built assembly line of Quedezava factory was continuously providing users with new Citroen cars with the efficiency of 65,438+000 vehicles per day and 3,500 vehicles per month. The establishment of the London branch has further expanded its business to Europe. It is worth mentioning that Citroen semi-tracked vehicle left the track of modern car for the first time in the feat of crossing the Sahara desert in Africa.
1924, Citroen B 12 produced by Paris saint-an factory adopted all-steel body for the first time. In line with the development trend of automobile internationalization, Andrew Citroen established an international automobile sales network covering Brussels, Amsterdam, Cologne, Milan, Geneva and Copenhagen, and achieved good export performance of 65,438+07,000 vehicles in that year. The taxi network in Paris was also taken over by Andrew in one fell swoop, opening up intercity high-speed long-distance services.
[Citroen]
Citroen
1925, the number of Citroen chain stores increased from 200 in 19 19 to 5,000. By this time, 5CV models have exceeded the total output of 80,000 vehicles. 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. In terms of overseas performance, the first assembly plant in Brussels was put into production, and began to assemble 5CV, B 12 and B 14, while the second branch in Slough, England, also invested in 5CV production and assembly.
1On July 4th, 925, the Paris World Expo gave Andrew the opportunity to display the word "CIIROEN" 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, sailed across the Atlantic alone and landed safely in France with this dazzling voyage, which was told as a much-told story.
1927, the scale of Citroen has grown to 762,000 square meters, with 3 1 1,000 employees at home and abroad. At that year's Paris Motor Show, the B 14G model was grandly put on the market, which was another rapid transformation after Citroen realized the transformation from B 14 to B 14F in just a few months. Then Andrew Citroen successfully organized the public to visit the Citroen factory, making Citroen more popular.
Citroen 1927
1928, Citroen's daily production capacity will reach 1000, and the number of models will reach 14. 5,000
[Citroen]
Citroen
Citroen's nationwide office sales network, 10 overseas branches and 4 production plants constitute a good international sales market. In that year, the overseas sales performance reached 45% of French exported cars. The original B 14G was replaced by C4.
1929, the annual output of Citroen exceeded100000, reaching102000. That year, the new C6E car also made its grand debut at the Paris Motor Show. From April to 65438+February, this car produced 5090 cars.
193 1 and 1932, the annual output of Citroen remained above 70,000 vehicles.
193 1 year, Citroen sponsored an expedition called "yellow tour", with 40 people, 14 semi-tracked vehicle. It started from Beirut in April of that year and lasted 10 months. In February of the following year, it crossed the Himalayas and Gobi Desert, overcame many difficulties and arrived in Beijing, China.
During the period of 1933, affected by the world economic crisis, the French automobile industry declined, and the automobile output dropped sharply. Andrew insisted on the principle of "increasing production and reducing costs" and demanded that the daily output be maintained at 65,438+0,000 vehicles. This strategic mistake laid a hidden danger for Citroen to get into trouble in the future.
1934, Citroen faced serious financial difficulties. This first-class automobile manufacturing company in France and even Europe, and the second in the world, was inspired by the French government and received financial assistance from Michelin, the largest credit company at that time, thus coming back to life. But at the same time, 8000 people were laid off, and the output in that year was only 56 123 vehicles.
After 1935, under the background of the turbulent world situation, Citroen was like a boat in a stormy sea, suffering from wind and waves again and again. First, Andrew Citroen died of sudden illness on July 3, 1935/KLOC-0, and the output of that year plummeted to 30,759 vehicles.
1938, the annual output of Citroen reached 68 109 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 Citroen Kzawa factory was blown up. 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 gradually decreased from 1940 to 1945.
1946, the annual output of Citroen dropped from the pre-war minimum of more than 2,000 vehicles.
[Citroen new standard]
Citroen new standard
It has risen to 24,443 vehicles, half of which are commercial vehicles. 65438-0947 Citroen actively expanded overseas markets and established new sales agents in Argentina and Sweden respectively. At that time, 70% of Citroen cars were exported.
At the Paris Motor Show in June 1948, 10, Citroen's new 2CV car caused a great sensation with its exaggerated shape, perfect design and various uses. From June 1949 to July 1990, this car * * * produced 387 million vehicles.
Today's Citroen
In the 30 years after the war, Citroen grew rapidly. By 1975, Citroen has an annual output of nearly 700,000 vehicles, 55% of which are sold overseas. At this time, the company's founder Andrew 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.
During the period of 1976, great changes have taken place 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. 199 1 year, Citroen and China No.2 Automobile Co., Ltd. jointly established Shenlong Automobile Company and began to produce automobiles in China.
Citroen was founded at the height of World War I, 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. 1934 produced the first front-wheel drive car in France. Citroen is the first company in France to adopt assembly line production, so its annual output has exceeded 65,438+10,000 vehicles after only six years of establishment.
1924 and 193 1- 1932, Andre Citroen organized "Asia Tour" and "Africa Tour", that is, "Yellow Tour" and "Black Tour", which made Citroen famous in the world and increased its sales. 1928 will reach 400 vehicles per day, accounting for 1/3 of French automobile production. From 65438 to 0975, the annual output of Citroen Automobile Company has reached 700,000 vehicles.
At the beginning of February, 2009, 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, the overall color is metallic, and the outline is more three-dimensional and round, 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, the inventor of Chinese-character gear transmission system. While releasing the new logo, Citroen released a brand-new brand slogan-Cré ative Technologie. The release of the brand-new logo and slogan indicates that Citroen, a world-famous brand with a glorious history of 90 years, has ushered in a new stage of development.