In shattering news for French car lovers in Australia Citroen has announced it will cease operations here on November 1.

Inchcape, the local company responsible for importing and selling Citroens announced the move last week after a period of very slow sales for the French marque. With just 87 sales nationally in the first half of this year dealers have been offering discounts of up to $30,000 on certain models. The decision ends a 101-year history for Citroen in Australia with the first model arriving here in 1923. According to Citroen Australia General Manager David Owen “the decision for the company to end new vehicle sales was not taken lightly: made after careful consideration of the current and future product availability for our country, in the context of the local market and the preferences and requirements of the Australian new vehicle buyers.” He also cited “increased competition in the rapidly evolving market for the decision.”

The French company has had a number of importers here in the last twenty years with varying degrees of success however sales have slumped by 97 percent since their peak in 2007. Interestingly, Citroen arrived here in 1923, just four years after Andre Citroen launched the brand in Paris. The former chief engineer for Mors Andre Citroen started his own gear making firm in 1913 and commemorated by the ’herring-bone bevel’ emblem used on all Citroen cars. His first model was the 1.3-litre four-cylinder 10HP Type Tourer with three-speed central change gearbox and disc wheels.

By 1921 production had reached 10,000 before and an improved 1.5-litre Type B model for 1922 was introduced, a model the writer knows well having restored one in 2008 for the then importer Ateco Automotive. In the same year Andre Citroen also introduced the smaller 856cc 5CV with cloverleaf body, detachable head, quarter elliptic springing and coil ignition. With a reputation for being indestructible the Citroen 5CV was the first vehicle to circumnavigate Australia in 1925 on mainly unmade tracks with a young 22-year-old Western Australia evangelist Neville Westwood at the wheel. Westwood had purchased the 5CV second hand, dubbed “Bubsy” it had already covered 40,000 miles before the trip. Such was the reputation earned from the exercise the Citroen 5CV became a strong seller here, a strong competitor for the Austin 7, and some two thousand were sold during the 1920’s. The car now resides in the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.

Importantly, Citroen Australia says all new car orders placed by November 1 will be fulfilled, with the company’s five-year unlimited kilometre warranty, pre-paid servicing and capped price service plans to be honoured.