- Introduction
- THe First Citroen Six
- Front-Wheel Drive
- Riding on Air
- Italian Intermezzo
- Engines go East-West
- Soueces of influence
- XM: From paper to Hardware
- Hydractive Suspension
- The Powe Teams
- Body shell and final assembly
- On the road with the Xm
A new model from Citroen has always been a major event, inflaming public enthusiasm to a degree never achieved by arch-rival Renault, for instance, nor any of Europe's other popular makes of car. This can be explained by two main factors: First, because new Citroen models were brought out so rarely. The "Traction" had a life span of twenty-one years; the DS was in production for nineteen years; and after forty years, the 2 CV is still being built (in Portugal) without basic change from its original specifications. Second, because Citroen always went its own way. Its vehicle concepts were more radical and the technology more avant-garde. Citroen had a 35-year lead on the industry-wide adoption of front-wheel drive. They were first in production with a reliable air-spring system giving a constant ride rate and automatic level control.
Citroen has led the way in the development of servo systems, disc, brakes, speed-dependent power steering, steered headlights, plastic body materials, and applied aerodynamics. All this forms a heritage that the XM cannot afford to deny.
The XM must project the image of a technological front-runner. As the new Citroen president, George Taylor, said shortly after the company's takeover by Peugeot in 1975: "We cannot suddenly produce the same type of car as everybody else. Citroen must remain different, affirm its technical originality, without which it would no longer be a Citroen". That statement remains equally valid today. It was during its long period of Michelin ownership (1935-1975) that Citroen earned its reputation for being adventurous in its engineering choices, and it was achieved in spite of the stubborn and secretive nature imposed on all its personnel, from assembly line workers to directors.
"Other car makers have customers. We have fanatics", declared a Citroen executive in 1963. An engineer with a rival organization told me, also in 1963: "Citroen is not a factory. It's a laboratory".
La naissance d'un nouveau modele Citroen.....
