Citroen is a French car maker, and is part of the PSA Peugeot Citroen Group. Citroen was founded in 1919 by Andre Citroen; it was the 1st mass production car maker outside of the USA. Citroen's growth meant that within eight years it was the largest car manufacturer in Europe and fourth in the world.
Major and rapid investment in the Traction Avnat model and production facilities was too much of a financial burden for Citroen; it went into financial trouble in 1934. Michelin took over the company as it was its largest creditor.
During the 1963 oil crisis Citroen went bankrupt, in order to protect thousands of jobs the French government intervened. It was decided to merge Automobiles Citron and Automobiles Peugeot into a single company. In 1974, Peugeot purchased 38.2% of Citron and became responsible for managing the combined activities, in particular their research, purchasing, and investments departments.
In 1976 the takeover was complete as Peugeot SA purchased a 90% stake of Citron SA and the companies were combined into a holding company, which we now know as PSA Peugeot Citroen.
In February 2009 Citroen launched a new brand identity to celebrate its 90th Anniversary. This consisted of a new modern logo - a 3D metallic variation of the Double Chevron logo accompanied by a new font for the Citroen name and the new slogan "Crative Technologie".
This new rebranding vastly helped Citroen sell its used car stock too, a dealer selling used Citroen in Norfolk has suggested an increase in the amount of interest shown in the Citroen brand since the rebranding in 2009.