Founded in 1919, Citroen was the first carmaker outside of the US to employ the assembly line method of mass production. They were also one of the first car companies to create separate sales and marketing departments. As a result, Citroen became the number one carmaker in Europe and the fourth largest on earth for over a decade. In the period between the two world wars, Citroen gained a reputation for innovation and in both engineering and design. In 1934, they produced the world’s first front-wheel drive vehicle, the Citroen DS. In an age where the European market was dominated by expensive luxury brands like BMW and Mercedes-Benz, Citroen produced reliable, economical models. But for some strange, unexplained reason, the company seemed to forget its roots after the war and took one wrong turn after the next. For starters, they acquired a number of luxury brands, one of them was Maserati, and they dumped millions of pounds into developing new luxury models. Not surprisingly, Citroen car sale suffered. The company reported losing year after losing year between 1955 and 1970. They also failed to produce a profitable mid-range model for decades, which reduced them to the role of niche player in a market they had once ruled. Things got so bad that Citroen was forced to file for bankruptcy protection in 1974. Fortunately, the company was acquired by Peugeot, which was determined to return Citroen to its former glory. In a matter of months, Peugeot jettisoned most of the dead weight (the luxury brands the company had acquired) and began making economical vehicles again. With substantial investments, the company was able to expand into a number of new markets by the end of the decade. In fact, Citroen cars and trucks are currently available in every major market with the exception of North America.
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