Citroën has shaped automotive history not only through engineering, but also through its willingness to rethink the form and meaning of the car. From the avant-garde DS and the unmistakable 2 CV to contemporary concepts and production models, design has always been central to the identity of the double-chevron brand.
The new book “Citroën Design – de 1950 aux années 2020” by Christophe Bonnaud tells this story through the people who created and experienced it. It is not simply a model catalogue. Its focus lies on designers, studios, working methods, creative atmospheres and the decisions behind the shapes.
Bonnaud is particularly well placed to tell this story. He has worked as an automotive journalist since 1982, held editorial positions at several specialist publications and founded LIGNESauto. Between 2010 and 2013, he also worked on the manufacturer’s side at PSA Peugeot Citroën in product, foresight and competitor analysis, in close contact with the design department led by Jean-Pierre Ploué.
The contributors and personalities in the book include Robert Opron, Jean Giret, Michel Harmand, Marc Deschamps, Nuccio Bertone, Jean-Pierre Ploué, Dan Abramson, Gilles Vidal, Frédéric Soubirou, Thierry Métroz, Alexandre Malval and Pierre Leclercq. Its narrative is based on first-hand accounts: designers discuss the places, people, moods and constraints that shaped their work. Their memories and anecdotes are intended to show how Citroën’s design language evolved across eight decades while retaining a distinctive identity.
Beyond the model catalogue
256 pages, more than 370 photographs, eight chapters and a 28 × 24 cm format, the book covers the period from 1950 to the 2020s. This broad perspective encompasses post-war modernism, the sculptural DS, later phases of rational and emotional design, the concept-car culture of the 1990s and the brand’s search for a contemporary visual language in an era of electrification and digital mobility.
Book Information:
- Title: Citroën Design – de 1950 aux années 2020
- Author: Christophe Bonnaud
- Language: French
- Length 256 pages
- Illustrations: More than 370 photographs
- Format: 28 × 24 cm
- Structure: Eight chapters
- Publisher: Éditions Roger-Régis
- Subscription price: €48, including €12 postage
- Advertised regular price: €55, including €12 postage
- Print run: Limited to 500 copies
- Publication note: Available before Christmas – subscription deadline: October 31, 2026
Why it matters
The book should appeal to collectors, historians, designers, model specialists and readers interested in the relationship between engineering, culture and visual identity. Its principal strength is the combination of extensive imagery with first-hand testimony.
Citroën’s own historical presentation underlines the scale of the brand’s heritage: more than 300 models and a Conservatoire collection of more than 400 historic vehicles. Bonnaud’s book adds the human dimension by focusing on the designers and the environments in which that heritage was created.
For Citroën enthusiasts, this makes the book more than a retrospective. It is an invitation to view the marque’s history as a continuing design process—from post-war innovation to the challenges of contemporary mobility.
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