In 1902, in Paris, a gear workshop was born bearing the name of its founder, André Citroën, a motor and mechanics enthusiast. A cusp gear became the logo of this company, whose first car model, the Type A, was launched on the market right after the First World War, in 1919.
Citroën was the first car company to also deal with the commercial aspects of car manufacturing in a modern way; instalment loans, a system of exclusive dealers and sales networks, and, above all, an advertising strategy that was completely new at the time and became a distinctive sign of the company as well as an example to everyone else in the industry. Already in the 1920s, also thanks to these features that made it unique, the French company became the leading car company in Europe in terms of sales.
The big success arrived with the Traction Avant (1934), the first European mass-produced car with front wheel drive. It was produced for more than 20 years and then replaced by the Citroën DS (1955). However, the company’s all-time big success would be the famous Citroën 2HP presented in 1948 (and reconfirmed in the ‘60s with the Dyane).
In 1947 Citroën was acquired by Peugeot. Today it is still part of the PSA group.
