PSA Group, the Citroën brand owner that also owns Peugeot, has moved the business from Les Gaulois, a fellow Havas agency, after discussions among different agencies within the Havas network.
Traction will be led by BETC Paris presidents Bertille Toledano and Stephane Xiberras as a separate agency located on the third floor of Les Magasins generaux, BETC’s office hub in Paris. BETC intends to run Traction as a separate agency when it opens on 1 October.
The Citroën account will cover 100 countries in total across the world.
Toledano said Citroën was intent on becoming a world-class brand and looking to improve its image by becoming a pop culture player, as it used to be.
Arnaud Belloni, global chief marketing officer of Citroën, said: "I grew up with the imagery of CItroën iconic communication items, with the chevrons, the aircraft carriers, and the revolutionary people. We want to use the spirit of its past as inspiration to foster its revival and bring the brand back to modern values."
While the Citroën brand has been an historic account of the Havas network for the past 30 years, parent group PSA awarded its global €875m (£733m) account to MediaCom last month. Havas Media and Omnicom were the incumbents.
According to PSA Group’s website, the French group has worldwide reach, with six key regional markets, including Europe, China and south-east Asia, India-Pacific, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa.
PSA is Europe’s second-biggest car maker and announced in March that it was set to get bigger by buying the European Vauxhall/Opel business from General Motors.
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