Peugeot's Comeback
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
PSA Peugeot Citroen's midsize saloon for india is currently being developed at the carmaker's Vigo plant in Spain, a company spokeperson told Autocar India. Production of this car is expected to begin in 2012. The Model is reportedly codenamed 'M3-M4'.
The spokeperson added that Peugeot's priority this year is to select the location for its plant and Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are in the short list.
Starting with the midsize saloon, Peugeot says it will "Sell a complete range of build-up cars" in india. The French carmaker's decision to launch the saloon in india makes it the last of the top ten global OEMs to enter india. Peugeot's short innings here in the late 1990's was called off following labour strife.
PSA Peugeot has not revealed details of its india plant but the fact is that it will be an export hub for some ASEAN markets. The spokepersons said the indian base will contribute to PSA Peugeot Citrogen's goal of reducing its dependence on European markets.
It has set itself goal to achieve 50 percent of its global sales from outside Europe by 2015, up from 39 percent in 2010 and 32 percent in 2009.
Peugeot's india team headed by Rajest Nellore, has already started visiting dealership to get a better understanding of the business dynamics in this market.