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 and management skills have been brought into full play, not only making the daily output of artillery shells reach a record 50,000 pieces, but also making women participate in the work due to proper organization, thus making more men quit the war.
After the war, Andrew saw the future of family cars from Henry Ford's success, and established a car factory named after himself in 19 19, and the double "V" pattern of the factory logo was 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
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 based on 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+0.5 million Citroen Mercedes-Benz 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.
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.
1928, Citroen's daily production capacity will reach 1000, and its models will reach 14. 5,000 nationwide office sales networks, 10 overseas branches and 4 production plants constitute a good international sales market for Citroen. 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 increased from the lowest of more than 2,000 vehicles before the war to 24,443 vehicles, half of which were 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.
Citroen classic car
"Ladies' Car" 5 HP C2 (i.e. 5CV)
1922, at the 7th Paris Motor Show, a jet flew straight into the blue sky, and under the gaze of thousands of people, the words "Citroen" were left behind. At this auto show, Citroen grandly launched the first "ladies' car" 5CV and 5 HP C2. This car is affectionately called "bright beauty" by choosing beautiful yellow as the main color of the car body. The car is equipped with an 856cc engine, 2 100 rpm produces 1 1 horsepower, a three-speed gearbox, a top speed of 60km/h and a fuel consumption of 5L per 100 km. The appearance of this economical car blew the horn of the process of automobile popularization. This car is favored by female consumers because it is easy to drive and maintain, and it is called "lady car".
French and American Customs C6
1928, once again using the Paris Motor Show, an American-designed French-style C6 was equipped with a six-cylinder engine, and its power was increased to 45 horsepower. Three-speed gearbox, top speed 105km, fuel consumption per 100km 14L.
"Highway Queen" Traction Pioneer
At the Paris Motor Show in 1938, the traction pioneer of 15-Six was introduced. It is an upgraded version of the world's first front-wheel drive vehicle 1934 traction. In addition to inheriting the benefits of the predecessor, its own equipment is also very strong. The 2867cc six-cylinder engine has a maximum power of 77 HP and a three-speed gearbox. The fuel consumption per 100 kilometers 13 liter and the top speed 135 kilometers per hour. It is called "the queen of the road".
Century legend 2CV
2CV's exaggerated appearance caused a sensation as soon as it appeared at 1948 Paris Motor Show. Despite its strange appearance, the practicality of 2CV has to be amazed. 2CV explains a brand-new design concept. The new air refrigeration engine is 375cc, 9 horsepower, four gears, with a top speed of 65 kilometers per hour and a fuel consumption of only 4.5 liters per 100 kilometers. 2CV is a real economical car, which is very suitable for the working class and meets people's fashion pursuit of automobile culture. So it was a great success as soon as it went online, and later many new versions were derived and lasted for a long time.
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.