Wednesday 28th May 1919

The first Citroen car, the Model A went into production, prior to its launch in April. A massive advertising campaign had preceded it with full page advertisements in newspapers and magazines announcing the launch of ‘Europe’s first mass production’ car. Orders for 16,000 cars were reported as having been received within a fortnight and the break-even target of 30,000 was reported as having been reached before any car left the plant. The sales drive was backed with the introduction of over 1,000 Citroen dealers throughout France fully conversant with the model being launched and backed with published repair costs and stocks of spare parts. Owners had access to maintenance manuals and detailed spare parts catalogues. Buyers were barraged with posters and advertisements including eventually the lighting up of the Eiffel Tower with an enormous sign spelling out the name Citroen. All these publications resulted in Citroen forming his own publishing company named ‘André Citroën Editions’.