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Citroën's name on the Eiffel Tower
The Company in 1925
- Citroën continues to shape and develop its network of dealers in France, the first such organization truly to merit the name of network. From 200 dealers in 1919, numbers have risen to 5,000 in 1925.
- Subsidiaries are set up in Madrid and Algiers.
- A new forging department comes into operation in Clichy in the Paris area. The fifty machines of this exceptionally advanced metal-working facility make it the largest single forge in Europe.
- Haardt and Audouin-Dubreuil lead their second expedition, the Croisière Noire. Between October 1924 and July 1925, the sixteen men and eight half-tracks of the Citroën Central African Expedition travel from Colomb-Béchar to Tananarivo. This journey of 20,000 kilometres is made for the purposes of scientific study.
- From 1925 to 1934, Citroën's name is emblazoned in lights on the Eiffel Tower. A total 250,000 light bulbs and 600 kilometres of electric flex are required for the letters, which are 30 metres high.
- Annual production : 61 487 vehicles.
The models in 1925
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Torpedo B12
- October sees the arrival of the all-steel B12, a car with a 1,452 cm3 engine developing 20 bhp at 2,100 rpm. Rated 9 bhp, the car is equipped with a 3-speed gearbox. It travels at 75 km/h and consumes 8.5 litres/100 km.
- The B12 offers a major innovation: four-wheel brakes.
The first dual-purpose vehicle, the B12 Commercial is an open tourer with a 1,000 kg payload, four doors and a rear hatch.
From October 1925 to January 1927, 38,381 B12s are built (including Commercials).
- In October, the 5CV gains a third central seat at the back to become the "Trèfle", or cloverleaf. Equipped with an 856 cm3 engine developing 11 bhp at 2,100 rpm, the car has a fiscal rating of 5 bhp and a 3-speed gearbox. It travels at 60 km/h and consumes 7 litres/100 km.
In the news in 1925
- Mussolini sets up a dictatorship in Italy.
- Hindenburg becomes President of the German Republic. Hitler rebuilds his party.
- The first international exhibition of Decorative Arts is heldin Paris.
- The year's films include Chaplin's The Gold Rushand Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin.
- André Gide writes The Counterfeiters, F. Scott Fitzgerald publishes The Great Gatsby and Kafka The Trial.