1930 - 1939

Traction Avant 7 : 1934-1941 (on this picture the model 7 S)
production : 88.066

The Company 1934

The launch of the Traction Avant is not sufficient to remedy Citroën's serious financial problems, and the company is unable to meet its commitments.

The French government asks Michelin - the main creditor - to take financial control and put the business back on its feet. Citroën continues to sell its cars, but 8,000 workers are made redundant.
Annual production : 56 123 vehicles.

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Ads for the 7, 11 and 22 CV

The 8, 10 and 15 models of the Rosalie series are modernized, gaining a more aerodynamic bodywork under the designation NH (Nouvel Habillage or new trim).
The 7A is launched in April. It is the first in a line of Traction Avant models that will remain in production until 1957.
It astonishes the automotive world with its daring specification: aerodynamic bodywork, single-piece steel body with no running-board, all-independent suspension with torsion bars at front and rear, front wheels powered as well as steered for remarkable roadholding, and hydraulic brakes.
The floating-power, 4-cylinder overhead-valve engine, equipped with rockers and wet cylinder liners, has a capacity of 1,303 cm³ and develops 32 bhp at 3,200 rpm. Rated 7bhp, it has a 3-speed gearbox, travels at 95 km/h and consumes 9 litres/100 km.

May sees the arrival of the 7S, the high-performance version of the 7, boasting a floating-power 1,911 cm³ engine. The 7B is launched in June with a 1,529 cm³ engine. In August, the 7C takes over from the 7B. Between April 1934 and June 1941, some 88,066 examples of the 7 are built. Total production of the Traction Avant series amounts to 759,123 examples between April 1934 and July 1957.

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The Traction Avant 22cv
The Paris Motor Show unveils the 22 CV, a vehicle with a V8 3,822 cm³ engine developing 100 bhp. Equipped with a 3-speed gearbox, it travels at 140 km/h and consumes 16 litres/100 km.
Heralded as the fastest and safest production car in the world, it actually remained a prototype.

Traction Avant 11 : 1934-1957
production : 620.455
Another new model seen at the Show is the 11: basically the same body as the 7 but 14 cm wider and 40 cm longer. The 11 is built in six versions, and production runs to 620, 455 examples between September 1934 and July 1954.
In the field of utility vehicles, the Type 32 replaces the 29. The bodywork is identical on the 32 but it has a floating-power overhead-valve 4-cylinder 3,053 cm³ engine developing 56 bhp. The payload is 3,200 kg and the total laden weight 5,200 kg.
In January, a Type 45S takes part in the Monte Carlo rally with all 29 passenger seats occupied. The 45B replaces the 45S.

In the news in 1934

In Germany, Hitler becomes Führer.
Mao Tse-Tung leads the Chinese communists on the Long March.
Violent right-wing demonstrations take place in Paris. Maurice Thorez calls for a Popular Front.
Jean Cocteau publishes The Infernal Machine, Robert Graves I, Claudius and Henry Miller Tropic of Cancer.
Irene and Frederick Joliot-Curie discover artificial radio-activity.