Citroën Argentina S.A. was the

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

of French automotive manufacturer

Citroën Citroën ()The double-dot diacritic over the 'e' is a diaeresis () indicating the two vowels are sounded separately, and not as a diphthong. is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded on 4 June 19 ...

, which produced vehicles of the brand in the country. Established in 1959 and headquartered in

Barracas, Buenos Aires Barracas is a ''Barrios of Buenos Aires, barrio'', or district, in the southeast part of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is located between the railroad of Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano and the Riachuelo River, and the streets ''Reg ...

, it operated in the country for 30 years producing vehicles, until the economic crisis during the military government reorganisation process forced the company to cease its operations. The Citroën brand would return to Argentina as part of the local

PSA Group Peugeot S.A., trading as Groupe PSA () (formerly PSA Peugeot Citroën from 1991 to 2016) was a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company which produced automobiles and motorcycles unde ...

subsidiary that took over Peugeot and Citroën operations after acquiring rights to the

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...

brand from the defunct company,

Sevel Argentina Sevel Argentina S.A. was an Argentine automobile company established in 1981 that produced and marketed Fiat, Peugeot, Alfa Romeo, Chevrolet, and Citroën vehicles for the local market until it was dissolved in 1999. The company was created by me ...

. In 2021, PSA Group Argentina became part of

Stellantis Argentina Stellantis Argentina S.A. is the Argentine subsidiary of international conglomerate Stellantis which produces and markets Citroën, Fiat, and Peugeot vehicles in the country. Established in 2021,Historia de Citroën en Argentina
by Alejandro H. Capano on Dia del Sur ©2018 The first models of the French firm arrived in Argentina at the beginning of the 1920s; imported individually or, more rarely, by request, some Type A 10HP and Type B2 vehicles entered the country. Only in 1925 did the firm Vengerow y Cía. In charge of its founder Marcos Vengerow and his sons León and Jack, the business got representation of Citroën (and Voisin) for Argentina. This firm, which had its showroom at 1165 Montevideo Street, began by importing the 5CV, commonly known as ''Treflé'' (

clover Clovers, also called trefoils, are plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with the highest diversit ...

leaf) due to the particular arrangement of its three seats. This model became very famous in those years in Argentina because several Argentine movie stars drove Treflé models, some of them were Sofía Bozan, Iris Marga, Pepe Arias, Florencio Parravicini were just some of the artists that helped the 5CV being recognisable to public. Other body versions of the 5CV could also be purchased, such as the 2-seater Torpedo and the 2-seater Cabriolet with the particular "boat tail". Then, in 1926, the Vengerow firm expanded the range with the B12 (20 HP) and B14 (22 HP) models in 15 different body versions. In 1929 the company changed its name to "Gesta Vengerow y Cía.", presenting in the Hall of Buenos Aires the brand new models C4 and C6. Because in those years Argentina drove on the left, the versions imported by the Vengerow firm were those manufactured for England. In 1931, Citroën's representation in Argentina passed to the company "Talleres Metalúrgicos San Martín" with its headquarters at Calle Florida 983 and an exclusive service station for customers on

Avenida Alvear Avenida Alvear is an upscale thoroughfare in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Located in the neighbourhood of Recoleta, it extends for seven blocks, from the Plazoleta Carlos Pellegrini to Alvear Plaza. The avenue is famous not only for the most excl ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. This firm continued with the importation of C4F (30 HP) and C6F (45 HP) models but not for long. It was not until 1939 when Citroën set commercial offices at 464 Paseo Colón street and presented the 7CV (in its latest version: 7C) 11CV models, in the B, BL, Familiale, and Cabriolet versions and a very few 15 SIX G and Type R23 trucks. Traction11F_1954

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the importation of vehicles from France ceased, to be restarted in 1946 with an official dealership, Teodoro Gilotaux, located at 3628 Alvear Avenue and its own workshop at 3626 Canning Street. This dealership brought the

Traction Avant Traction may refer to: Engineering *Forces: ** Traction (mechanics), adhesive friction or force ** Traction vector, in mechanics, the force per unit area on a surface, including normal and shear components * Traction motor, an electric motor us ...

model, also known as "11 Ligero" (''light eleven''). The car quickly earned a solid reputation, being advertised as "the ideal car for the plain and the mountains". sold very well in Argentina. It also included in its catalog the 11 Normale, Cabriolet and Familiale, as well as the King of the road: the 15 SIX D. Racers Rodolfo Brusco and Jorge Ansaldo travelled from Buenos Aires to New York in 1951 on a 1947 Traction Avant. In 1953, some races exclusively for Traction Avant cars were held in Autódromo de Buenos Aires In 1947, the commercial subsidiary of Citroën was founded in Buenos Aires under the name of SIVARA, which imported the chassis of the Type 45 6-cylinder heavy trucks, and in 1951 Automobiles Citroën S.R.L appeared. with its offices and salesroom at 1117 Venezuela Street in the Federal Capital. The reason why the 2CV did not appear before in Argentina was because there were, until the end of 1955, tax regimes that applied to all cars whose weight was less than one ton, which was a serious obstacle for the importation of vehicles. Towards the end of the 1950s, the first DS and ID appeared, they were quickly nicknamed ''Citroën Sapo'' (''frog''), but it was not well received due to its unusual design at the time and its high price.

Local production

1958 is the year in which the Citroën 2CV made its official appearance thanks to another dealership that imported them: Staudt y Cía. S.A. These models from France and Belgium caused great astonishment and, as in European countries, their followers began to grow since they perfectly adapted to our varied geography; pampas and mountains, hot or cold, dirt or asphalt did not seem to matter to the 2CV and sales grew day by day, in this context the Citroën plant in France decided to grant the concession for the manufacture of these vehicles in Argentina. Therefore, Decree 12,267/59 authorized the filing of capital for the assembly of 2CV in Argentina while Resolution 90/59 of the Ministry of Industry and Mining approved the manufacturing plans for category

B-segment The B-segment is the second smallest of the European segments for passenger cars between the A-segment and C-segment, and commonly described as "small cars". The B-segment is the third largest segment in Europe by volume, accounting for 15.5% ...

automobiles presented by the Societe Anonyme André Citroën of Paris. Thus, on March 25, 1959, "Citroën Argentina Sociedad Anónima" was founded by decree number 3,693/59 granted by the Executive Power of the Nation, and legal status was granted on May 8 of this year. The assembly of 2CV AZL vehicles began on February 18, 1960, in a provisional plant located in the town of Jeppener in

Brandsen Partido Brandsen is a partido in northeastern Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. In 2001 the city and district had a population of about 22,500 people. It covers an area of . The capital is also known as Brandsen. History Founded on November 21, 1875 it ...

, 80 kilometers from the Federal Capital. This plant was a

sewing machine Diagram of a modern sewing machine Animation of a modern sewing machine as it stitches A sewing machine is a machine used to sew fabric and materials together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolutio ...

factory, "Pfaff Bromberg S.A.I.C.", which had very advanced machining centers for the time. Because of that and through an agreement with the directors of this company, about 100 cars and 20 AZU vans were assembled there. The plant continued to work for Citroën Argentina S.A. until 1980 under the name of EMECA and then belonged to PSA Peugeot-Citroën of Argentina. Meanwhile, the final plant was being built in the old Catita kitchen factory, on a 75,000 m2 site located at 3220 Zepita Street, in the industrial neighborhood of

. It was inaugurated on May 31, 1960, when the 2CV number 101 left the assembly line. In this same year Citroën presented a booth exhibition at the International Motor Show in Buenos Aires in which it built a test track in which all kind of roads and streets of the country were reproduced. The 2CVs were driven by test pilots took visitors for a ride around this track where they did all kinds of demonstrations to the surprise of the passengers and the public. One DS19, two ID19 and three ID breaks were exhibited there. After the show ended it went up for auction, the offers were so many that they were sold for a price three times higher than the base price. Initially, the plant had a covered area of 51,000 m2, distributed in two buildings, Edificio Norte and Edificio Sur with nearly 1,200 employees. On July 22, 1960, panel vans began to be assembled. The North building, with 23,000 covered m2, centralized the mechanical manufacturing and assembly of parts while the South Building of 28,000 m2 focused on the manufacture of bodywork, protection and painting and the final assembly of the vehicles. A third building, East Plant, stored all the autoparts to supply the dealership network, commercial, advertising, selling, after sales, guarantees areas and even mechanics academies. Citroen Argentina exported autoparts to France, Spain, Chile, Uruguay, and fully assembled vehicles to Paraguay, Bolivia, and Cuba. In the beginning, the vehicles were assembled with parts received from France, as the factory was assembled new manufacturing processes were incorporated and the parts and assemblies were nationalized. The production of vehicles increased constantly, from 992 units built in 1960 to 6,954 in 1964 to reach 15,280 units per year in 1969. By 1966 Citroën Argentina already had 30,000 units circulating on the streets.

3CV

El 1º de noviembre de 1969 Citroën Argentina lanza el modelo 3CV AZAM-M28 con el motor de 602 cc. y 32 HP. a 6.250 R.P.M (motor M28), con alternador de 12 volts, primero con filtro de aceite en el interior del cárter (primer montaje) para luego, en 1971, incorporar el filtro del lubricante reemplazable en el exterior del cárter (segundo montaje). En el aspecto exterior las únicas differencias con el 2CV eran: los faros traseros, que son los del Dyane 6 francés y en los faritos indicadores de giro delanteros de forma rectangular, combinando el diseño con los traseros, ubicados en el frente de los guardabarros (desaparecen los faros indicadores laterales). En su interior no hay mayores differencias con el 2CV AZAM salvo en el velocímetro que ahora indica 120 km/h! La caja de velocidades es de diseño totalmente nuevo, propio de Citroën Argentina basada en la caja del ami 6 francés, (continua como opcional el embrague centrífugo), los tambores de frenos delanteros pasan a ser de 220 mm. de diámetro y las transmisiones son, en el 3CV, homocinéticas (con ocho crucetas) También se incorporan amortiguadores hidráulicos en las 4 ruedas. En 1970 tanto los 2CV como los 3CV incorporan las puertas delanteras de apertura «normal» según las normas de seguridad vigentes en ese año. Aparece la furgoneta AK, con la mecánica del 3CV, en versiones AKR (con vidrio lateral) y AK (sin vidrio lateral).

Ami 8 Club

At the end of 1970, Citroën Argentina incorporated a completely new model into its production, the Ami 8 Club, with identical mechanics to the 3CV (second assembly) except for the

carburetor A carburetor (also spelled carburettor or carburetter) is a device used by a gasoline internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the Ventu ...

, which was double body (Solex 26–35 CSIC) that powered to 35 HP. The press described Ami 8 as a "transition car", however, it was not like that since it competed directly with models from the medium/small range such as the

Renault 6 The Renault 6 or R6 is an economy C-segment small family car, manufactured and marketed by French automaker Renault from 1968 to 1986. The Renault 6 used the Renault 4's platform, initially including its small engine, but its five-door hatchbac ...

or the

Fiat 128 The Fiat 128 is a transverse front-engine, front wheel drive small family car manufactured and marketed by Fiat from 1969 to 1985 as a two- or four-door sedan, three- or five-door station wagon as well as two- or three-door coupé. The 128 runn ...

. Citroën de Argentina only manufactured the ''break'' (

station wagon A station wagon (American English, US, also wagon) or estate car (British English, UK, also estate) is an automotive Car body style, body-style variant of a Sedan (automobile), sedan with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo ...

) version of the Ami 8, the club, which unlike its French pair had front drum brakes. In the frame or chassis, it incorporates a stabilizer bar (anti-roll) in the front, suspension cylinders, and springs with a larger diameter than in the 2CV and 3CV, the inertia beaters continued and the wheel bearings were larger (from 35x72x27mm. to 36x76x29mm.) These features would be incorporated into the 3CV in 1971 with the exception of the stabilizer bar. The Ami 8 had a top speed of 113 km/h.

Mehari

Also in 1971 Citroën Argentina launched a new model, the Méhari, an

off-road Off-roading is the act of driving or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, dirt, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, or other natural terrain. Off-roading ranges from casual drives with regular vehicles to competitive events w ...

roadster oriented to the young public also thought for rural and coastal areas, due to be built in polyester reinforced with

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

, unlike the European model made in ABS. Fiberglass was chosen because there were no machines in South America to mold plastics in that size. This bodywork was manufactured in

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

by the Dasur company. The mechanics were exactly the same as the 3CV and red was its only color (although a series in blue was manufactured for the Tucumán police). The Méhari had a load capacity of 400 kg.

Closure

Despite the increase in production compared to the previous year and plans to produce the GS model in Argentina, the company decided to finish its business in the country due to the government's economic policies. In their Annual Report published in 1980, Citroen Argentina stated that On December 31, 1979, Citroën Argentina S.A. ceased activities, with a total of 223,442 vehicles produced.

Revival

Two years after of the departure of Citroën from Argentina, engineer Eduardo Sal-Lari bought the market share of the subsidiary. During some time Sal-lari kept the license of the brand through the import of vehicles from France. In 1982 Sal-lari acquired parts to produce locally the 3CV engine and

gearbox A transmission (also called a gearbox) is a mechanical device invented by Louis Renault (who founded Renault) which uses a gear set—two or more gears working together—to change the speed, direction of rotation, or torque multiplication/r ...

. In January 1983 Sal-Lari was authorised to produce automobiles in the country. A factory was built in Gowland,

Mercedes Partido Mercedes Partido is a partido in the eastern part of Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. The provincial subdivision has a population of about 62,000 inhabitants in an area of , and its capital city is Mercedes, from Buenos Aires. Settlements * ...

and the first cars were launched in November. Motor car builder

Oreste Berta Oreste Berta (born 29 September 1938 in Rafaela, Argentina) is an Argentinian engineer who has built and entered racing cars in various championships since the 1960s. He founded his own engineering company in Alta Gracia, and ran a successful ra ...

(who had supervised the IKA Torino car that competed in the 1969 Nürburgring 84-hour race) helped Sal-Lari in his project, improving the 3CV engine expanding it from 625cm3 to 850cm3 and from 28 to 45HP. It was also switched from

air cooling Air cooling is a method of dissipating heat. It works by expanding the surface area or increasing the flow of air over the object to be cooled, or both. An example of the former is to add cooling fins to the surface of the object, either by maki ...

water cooling file:KKP Auslauf.jpg, Cooling tower and water discharge of a nuclear power plant Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. Evaporative cooling using water is often more efficient than air cooling. Water i ...

. Therefore "Industrias Eduardo Sal-Lari" (IES) revived the 3CV models

rebadged In the automotive industry, rebadging (also known as badge engineering, an intentionally ironic misnomer in that little or no actual engineering takes place) is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. T ...

as IES 3CV. At a price of AR$388 million, the IES 3CV was the cheapest car in Argentina. Models were produced in the old factory in Barracas while the Gowland plant was under construction. Sal-lari also rebadged other Citroën models such as the Méhari (renamed "Safari") and the 3CV panel van ("Carga"). Nevertheless, and due to lack of support from the national government, Sal-Lari was removed from the company in 1989 and IES was closed in 1990.

Vehicles produced

;Notes

References

{{Automotive industry in Argentina a Motor vehicle manufacturers of Argentina 1954 establishments in Argentina c Argentine subsidiaries of foreign companies