André Citroën

"During the some one hundred and forty years over which the Lazard saga unfolds, many fortunes have been built in France. Brilliant industry captains emerged. None survived the test of time. Forgotten, Louis Renault. Squandered, the considerable fortunes of André Citroën or the perfumer François Coty."

"Incorruptible, blending in, tough on the job, and not talkative, they gradually invest in the factories and offices under the authority of Pierre Michelin and Pierre Boulanger. “The two Pierres,” said André Citroën, “on whom I will rebuild my temple.” The salaries of the main collaborators are authoritatively cut by thirty to thirty-five percent. Expense reports are scrutinized. Company cars are removed. Michelin, who before getting involved in the business had the Traction tested in Montlhéry, in Auvergne, and even in Sweden, knows the weaknesses of the model perfectly and knows they can be corrected quickly."

"The father of Trèfle and Rosalie misunderstands the extent of the crisis. He refuses to see that his factories are too large, too scattered, and over-equipped. And to make matters worse: the Traction — which he wanted to release with an automatic transmission! — is not yet ready. Neither are the production lines. Day by day, the tools that had to be imported at great expense from the United States arrive, but while production is already underway. The competition takes advantage and disparages this disappointing “scrap metal.” Maurice Chevalier sings Ménagez-la and mocks an André Citroën who came on his knees to beg him to take care of his beautiful car “not solid for two cents.” Dealers are surprised by this model full of brilliant ideas, bringing together all the innovations of the time. And Citroën, on their advice, sells a car for seventeen thousand francs that costs him twenty thousand."

"Reassured, on October 8, 1931, André Citroën went—with Pierre Bourdon, one of Edouard Michelin’s sons-in-law—to make a pilgrimage to the United States, to discover the new production lines and models being prepared in Detroit, despite the crisis. To “fill up on oxygen” as well. Speeches, toasts, Champagne, the most dynamic industrialist in France meets, discusses, gets photographed, proud as a schoolboy, with the French ambassador Paul Claudel, with President Hoover, with Henry Ford 1er."

"When after the armistice, he undertook to convert at a lightning speed his workshops on the Quai de Javel to make it the most modern automobile factory in Europe, he quickly got in touch with tire manufacturers. And Edouard spared neither his efforts nor his funds to provide him with these special tires and removable steel sheet wheels, lightweight and affordable, required by the Citroën “10 HP type A.” André Citroën completely shared the views of the founder of the Carmes factory and his brother, the Parisian, on the necessity of manufacturing automobiles on a very large scale — thanks to Taylorism in particular — in order to reduce the price and expand its distribution."

"On December 21, Citroën files for bankruptcy, and the commercial court of Paris declares the judicial liquidation. The Lazard Bank, which is the largest creditor among all financial institutions, asks Michelin, the largest creditor among the two thousand four hundred industrial suppliers, to take charge (André Citroën owes eighty-two million to his tire supplier)."

"Michelin puts around sixty million francs on the table. With the shares he receives from André Citroën and the shares of many small shareholders he buys back, he soon holds fifty-three percent of the capital. Long-term arrangements are made with other major creditors."

"For the first time, Michelin came to Citroën’s rescue in 1931. A few months earlier, in a fit of anger, André Citroën had sent back to their studies, the Lazard bank, the administrators, and directors it had sent him, and especially this André Meyer who exasperated him with his advice of caution and moderation. Much poker but a Pyrrhic victory. Nevertheless, Michelin granted a few tens of millions of francs in cash advances."

"In this month of June 1934, André Citroën, tormented by the terrible pains of an illness that would take him a year later, regained confidence. In front of a few collaborators and some major dealers he gathered that evening in his gigantic glass office on Quai de Javel, the father of the Clover, the Rosalie, and the brand new Traction Avant, is convinced that everything will resume. As before, better than before."

"At Quai de Javel, the new owner makes sharp cuts. Six thousand layoffs—five thousand workers and one thousand white-collar workers—are decided by Pierre Michelin. No more family scions (those called “hickeys”), no more secretaries overly concerned with their elegance, no more workers whimsical about their schedules, no more expenses that aren’t absolutely necessary, no more adventurous epics, no more fanfare. André Citroën’s closest collaborators are thanked and let go. The parent company in Clermont-Ferrand continues to send—often in “submarines”—some of its trusted men to reorganize the business from top to bottom, take back control of the staff, and identify overly disruptive unionists."

"André Citroën against this solution that would compromise his independence and endanger national heritage. Edouard reassuringly promises, “If you need money, we are here.”"