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80 Years Ago – The Death of André Citroën

Andre Citroen80 Years Ago – The Death of André Citroën

July 3, 2015 will mark the 80th anniversary of the death of company founder André Citroën. Throughout his life he proved multiple times his special ingenuity. André Citroën was a visionary who always went extraordinary ways. In retrospective of his life and work, an interesting exhibition opened in Paris reflecting life and works of Citroën

André Citroën defined several outstanding achievements until his death on July 3rd, 1935: From 1919 he was the first European to produce cars on an assembly line. One of the pillars for that new process was his ability to quickly pick up and evolve technical innovations. As one example. he visited at a young age the company of his uncle in Warsaw where he learned the principle of power transmission via angled gearing. He had patented a machine that was able to produce gear teeth in the form of double angles – or „double chevrons“, the company’s logo still existing today.

Shortly thereafter, he began the production of angle-toothed and spiral-helical gears and reduction gears made of steel, among others, for automobiles. With its 1912 founded company he sets standards over the years. An example for a special achievement: In 1925 he set up the first all-steel body production for an European car, the Citroën Type B12. The model also is the first large-scale production car with a four-wheel brake that existed previously only in expensive luxury cars. In the following years, André Citroën was responsible for introducing the development of various techniques in the automotive industry. These included, for example, the first adjustable front seats and the first stoplight – things that since long is basic equipment of any car.

André Citroën not only was responsible for technical innovation: also in advertising, production and sales he was a pioneer of his time, and re-invented and re-iterated methods again, similar to what decades later people like Steve Jobs did. André Citroën was – among other things – a pioneer in advertising, financing and the development of a commercial and dealership network. Also, he signed responsible for deploying a total of 150,000 traffic signs, marked with the brand Citroën, he organized mobile advertising campaigns to showcase new models and simulated with its vehicles accident scenarios, long before the term „crash test“ showed up in the vocabulary of the automotive industry.

Innovative spirit from yesterday to todayZahnrad

Rightly therefore the company of André Citroën is perceived as the most innovative automotive brand of the 20th century. Right from the start the Frenchman wanted to build affordable and practical cars, proving his creativity with models like the Type A, the B 10 and the Traction Avant. Innovation and strong character models are still setting Citroën’s perception today. The best example is the Citroën C4 Cactus – with its unique design and many technical highlights like no other model embodies the new brand signature „Le Caractère“ in Germany.

Exhibition in honor of André Citroën

To mark the anniversary of the death of André Citroën 80 years ago, an exhibition took place in the town hall of the ninth arrondissement in Paris on 1 July 2015, held in honor of the innovative automobile manufacturer.