Citroën Argentina S.A. was the

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish ( masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines ...

subsidiary of French automotive manufacturer

Citroën Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired ...

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

Barracas, Buenos Aires Barracas is a ''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 ''Regimiento de Patricios'', ' ...

, it operated in the country for 30 years producing vehicles until the economic crisis during the

military government A military government is generally any form of government that is administered by military forces, whether or not this government is legal under the laws of the jurisdiction at issue, and whether this government is formed by natives or by an occup ...

forced the company to cease its operations. The Citroën brand would return to Argentina as part of the local

PSA Group The PSA Group (), legally known as Peugeot S.A. (Peugeot Société Anonyme, trading as Groupe PSA; formerly known as PSA Peugeot Citroën from 1991 to 2016) was a French multinational automotive manufacturing company which produced automobiles ...

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

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and then ...

brand from 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 m ...

.Todos los Peugeot que se hicieron en la Argentina
on Autoweb, 3 Dec 2019Fiat y Peugeot: una alianza que nació hace cuatro décadas y tuvo una base en la Argentina
on Infobae, 1 Nov 2019 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 20's, some Type A 10HP and Type B2 were imported individually or by request, but very rarely. Only in 1925 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 Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus h ...

leaf) due to the particular arrangement of its three seats. This model became very famous in those years in Argentina due to the fact that 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".Citroen models in Argentina
''La Capital'' Mar del Plata Citroën B12 1926

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. Due to the fact that 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 Florida Street ( es, Calle Florida) is a popular shopping street in Downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. A pedestrian street since 1971, some stretches have been pedestrianized since 1913. The pedestrian section as such starts at the intersection ...

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 exc ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

. 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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, 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 (engineering), 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 moto ...

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 sales room at 1117 Venezuela Street in the Federal Capital. The reason why the 2CV did not appear before in Argentina was due to the fact that 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 largest segment in Europe by volume, accounting for 20 percent ...

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

sewing machine A sewing machine is a machine used to sew fabric and materials together with Thread (yarn), thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies. ...

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 A panel van, also known as a blind van, car-derived van (United Kingdom) or sedan delivery (United States), is a small cargo vehicle with a passenger car chassis, typically with a single front bench seat and no side windows behind the B-pillar. ...

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 diferencias 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 diferencias 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) is a device used by an 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 venturi tube in the main meter ...

, 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 is a C-segment small family car manufactured and marketed by the French automaker Renault between 1968 and 1986. The Renault 6 (R6) was launched at the 1968 Paris Motor Show, and was intended to be an upmarket alternative to the Ren ...

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) 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 more large (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.Así probábamos el Citroën Ami 8
on ''Parabrisas'', Apr 1971

Mehari

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

off-road Off-roading is the activity of driving or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, and other natural terrain. Types of off-roading range in intensity, from leisure drives with unmodified vehicl ...

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 (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cl ...

, unlike the European model made in ABS.Así probábamos el Citroën Mehari
''Parabrisas'', Jan 1972 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 ( es, República Oriental del 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 ...

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 year 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.IES
on Autohistoria In 1982 Sal-lari acquired parts to produce locally the 3CV engine and

gearbox Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), diffe ...

. 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 (who had supervised the

IKA Torino The IKA Torino, later Renault Torino, is a mid-sized automobile made by Industrias Kaiser Argentina (IKA) under an agreement with American Motors Corporation (AMC) in 1966. The 1966 Torino was IKA's first national product. IKA was eventually bo ...

car that competed in the 1969 Nürburgring 84-hour race)80 años de Oreste Bert
by Martín Sacán on TN, 29 Sep 2018 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 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 is inexpensive and non ...

.De ser el padre del mítico IES 3CV a perder todo y resurgir vendiendo medialunas: la historia de película de Eduardo Sal-Lari
by Darío Coronel on Infobae, 4 Jul 2021 Therefore "Industrias Eduardo Sal-Lari" (IES) revived the 3CV models

rebadged In the automotive industry, rebadging is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. To allow for product differentiation without designing or engineering a new model or brand (at high cost or risk), a man ...

as IES 3CV. At a price of AR$388 million, the IES 3CV was the chepest 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