André Citroën built armaments for France during World War I; after the war, however, unless he planned ahead he knew he would have a modern factory without a product. There was nothing automatic about the decision to become an automobile manufacturer once the war was finished, but the auto-business was one that Citroën knew well, thanks to a successful six-year stint working with Mors between 1908 and the outbreak of war.  In February 1917 Citroën contacted another engineer, Jules Salomon, who already had a considerable reputation within the French automotive sector as the creator, in 1909, of a little car called Le Zèbre. Type A emerged from the factory at the end of May, and in June it was exhibited at a show room in the Champs-Élysées which normally sold Alda cars. Citroën history  persuaded the owner of the Alda business, Fernand Charron, to lend him the show-room (just as a few years later Charron would be persuaded to become a major investor in Citroën business). On 7 July 1919 the first customer took delivery of a new Citroën 10HP “Type A”.

Present Citroen History

From 2003–10, Citroën produced the C3 Pluriel, an unusual convertible with allusions to the 1948–90 2CV model, both in body style (such as the bonnet) and in its all-round practicality. In 2001, Citroën acknowledged its history of innovation when it opened a museum of its many significant vehicles – the ‘Conservatoire,’ with 300 cars. With the severe decline in European auto sales after 2009, worldwide sales of vehicles declined from 1,460,373 in 2010 to 1,435,688 in 2011, with 961,156 of these sold in Europe. In 2011 Groupe PSA was close to forming a partnership with BMW for the development of electric and hybrid vehicles between BMW and all of the PSA brands, but the talks fell through shortly after Groupe PSA, Citroen’s parent company, announced a partnership with GM which later failed. Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën continues growing, and has developed 8 car designs exclusive to the China market. [36] Currently in China, Citroën (and Peugeot) face the same challenge as Volkswagen: too many sedans and hatchbacks, without enough models in the strong selling SUV and minivan/MPV categories.[36] The brand ranks highest in the 2014 customer satisfaction survey by JD Power in China, above luxury brands like Mercedes-Benz and BMW, and above mass market brands like Volkswagen ranking only thirteenth and seventeenth. On the 10 first months of 2014 in China, the sales of Donfeng Citroën cars increased by 30% in an overall market growth of 11%.

Remember that before you buy, check the history of the vehicle. You do this by typing the VIN Number Citroen below:

Source: wikipedia.org