Oltcit S.A. () was an

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

manufacturer, established as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between the communist Romanian government (64%) and

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 ...

(36%). Their main products were the Oltcit Club and

Citroën Axel The Oltcit Club is a supermini car, supermini produced between 1981 and 1991 and developed in co-operation by Citroën of France and Oltcit, a joint venture company with the Romanian government. They were powered by the air-cooled engines from t ...

hatchback A hatchback is a car body style, car body configuration with a rear door that swings upward to provide access to the main interior of the car as a cargo area rather than just to a separated trunk. Hatchbacks may feature fold-down second-row sea ...

s, assembled in

Craiova Craiova (, also , ) is the largest city in southwestern Romania, List of Romanian cities, the seventh largest city in the country and the capital of Dolj County, situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It i ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

History

Oltcit emerged as a result of a partnership between the Romanian state authorities (government) and the French car manufacturer Citroën. Thus, a year later, in 1977, in Craiova, the construction of a modern factory for the construction of a small car began. In 1979, at the EREN exhibition in Bucharest, the "National Economy Achievements Exhibition", the new Oltcit car brand was officially launched, which had two variants: a 652 cc and 36 HP engine and a 1130 cc and 56 HP engine. The new Oltcit cars were to be mass-produced from 1980. Four versions were produced at the factory: * Oltcit Special - equipped with a 652 cc engine from the Citroen Visa and LNA. * Oltcit Club - equipped with a 1129 cc engine and 4-speed gearbox. * Oltcit Club 12 TRS - originally fitted with a 1200cc engine but replaced with a 1299cc engine and 5-speed gearbox; it was a car destined for export to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

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 ...

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

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Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. * Oltena Club 12 CS - available since 1993, a two-seater small

pick-up truck Pickup(s), pick-up, or pick up may refer to: Film * ''Pick-Up'' (1933 film), a crime film starring Sylvia Sidney and George Raft * ''Pickup'' (1951 film), an American film noir directed by Hugo Haas * ''Pick-Up'' (1975 film), an exploitation f ...

; 1299cc engine and a 5-speed gearbox with power-friendly ratios. Production continues under the name of Oltcit until 1991, when the name was changed to Oltena (the logo was also changed) because

decided to withdraw from the joint venture. The production of those versions continued until the signing of the contract with Daewoo, when another name change took place, from Oltena to Rodae. In 1991, as a result of the withdrawal of Citroën from the joint venture, the name of the company was changed to S.C. Automobile Craiova S.A. and production continued under the Oltena brand. In 1994, a

(49%-51%) was established between the Korean company Daewoo Heavy Industries and S.C. Automobile Craiova S.A., called Rodae, later renamed Daewoo Automobile Romania. In 2008,

Ford of Europe Ford of Europe GmbH is a subsidiary company of Ford Motor Company founded in 1967 in Cork (city), Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with headquarters in Cologne, Germany. History Ford of Europe was founded in 1967 by the merger of Ford of Bri ...

, a division of

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

, took over the former Oltcit/Daewoo factory, which became known as

Ford Romania Ford Otosan Romania SRL, commonly referred to as Ford Romania, is an automobile manufacturing company operated by Ford Otosan, located in Craiova, Romania. The company was established in 2008 after Ford's purchase of Daewoo Automobile Romania. In ...

Models

* Special/Club *

Gallery

File:Oltcit Auto.jpg, Oltcit Club File:Axel Grey-Side.jpg, Citroën Axel File:Oltcit Special.jpg, 1984 Oltcit Special

References

External links

{{Authority control Car manufacturers of Romania Defunct manufacturing companies of Romania 1976 establishments in Romania Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1976 Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Romania Companies based in Craiova Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1991 1991 disestablishments in Romania Former joint ventures Citroën

History

Models

Gallery

See also

References

External links