Conference of 21 November 1958: shortage of H.P. pumps at Citroën agents

In this document

These minutes relate to a conference of 21 November 1958, held in Mr. Pompon's office, bringing together Messrs. Bouzinac, Chalard, Hermet, Louis, Magès and Pompon p. 273. The subject is explicitly titled "Problem: H.P. Pumps" p. 273.

Situation in France

The document outlines a worrying state of affairs at Citroën agents: a lack of new pumps, but also a lack of spare parts to repair existing pumps, and no official repair channel organised p. 273.

Decisions taken

Two measures are agreed upon immediately: to build up a stock of pumps in good condition available for customers, and to launch "troubleshooting" repairs externally without delay p. 273. Mr. Hermet is tasked with coordinating with Magès and Chalard to define the parts to be manufactured by the Asnières factory as well as the repair method to be followed p. 273.

Case abroad

For foreign markets, the same principle applies, with an additional possibility: going as far as the complete assembly of a new pump from spare parts supplied by Asnières p. 273.

The document bears a handwritten annotation in red ink "21-11-58" as well as red underlining highlighting the two critical points: the absence of new pumps and the absence of parts/official repair p. 273.

Context

This meeting took place in 1958, in the midst of the rollout of the DS 19, launched on 6 October 1955, whose hydropneumatic suspension — an invention of Paul Magès, whose plans dated back to February 1944 (Hydropneumatic suspension plans with differential interaction) — relies on a high-pressure pump essential to the system's operation. A shortage of this component, both in new pumps and spare parts, therefore represented a sensitive commercial and technical issue for the Citroën dealer network ("agents"), in France as well as abroad, the Asnières factory being historically a production site for Citroën components. Magès, who joined Citroën in August 1925, was then deputy head of the Super-Control after having worked in the design office (Draft letter from Paul Magès to Mr. Sarre), which naturally explains his presence at this type of technical meeting.

Archivist's perspective

This document illustrates a little-seen aspect of Magès's work: beyond design, he is associated, due to his role as technical reference for the suspension and his position as deputy head of the Super-Control, with the management of industrial crises affecting the commercial network p. 273.

The dated handwritten annotation and red underlining suggest careful monitoring, or even a subsequent follow-up of the file, without it being possible to specify by whom.

This report probably belongs to the same folder as other technical documents on the hydropneumatic suspension; it can be compared to the Summary of folder 41-59, which groups documents on the evolution of this system during the same period.