We don't often talk about French auto brand Citroën, simply because it doesn't offer any models in North America. But here’s an occasion, so why pass it up?
The century-old automaker has unveiled a new logo, or rather, new logos, that will adorn its vehicles. And the changes are more noteworthy than Volkswagen made to its badge last year, if you’ll recall. The chevron motif, the heart of the French brand’s logo, is still there, thankfully.
The new logo will begin to appear on Citroën’s models from the middle of next year.
Of course, what's always interesting to trace with this kind of change is the evolution of the logo throughout history. In fact, the Citroen logo has changed many times over the years. The new version, interestingly, is a nod to the original design first introduced in 1919.
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As for the logo, it is of importance in the history of the automobile. The origin of the logo takes us back to one of the greatest innovations in the automotive world, one that is still used in almost all modern vehicles: the helical gear. Prior to its introduction, transmissions were much more difficult to use and were generally unreliable. They were also noisy and made driving uncomfortable.
The helical gear gave rise to smooth power transfers between gears. We would be hard pressed to imagine anything else today. The logo represents the herringbone pattern of a double helix gear. André Citroën brought this logo to life after being inspired by his first metalworking company that produced double helix gears.
As for Citroën's new logo, it marks the automaker's change of direction, as it too will transform its lineup to become electric.
Over the past few months, we've seen several logo changes in the industry. In addition to Citroën and VW, BMW, Buick, GM, Lotus, Mini and Nissan, among others, have redesigned their respective logos.
