After its hasty withdrawal from the country a decade ago, Peugeot which has been re-christened as PSA Peugeot Citroen is now rearing for another innings in the Indian market. The French auto maker is mulling a total investment of Rs 6,000 crores to set-up a facility in the country. Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are the front-runners in the race for hosting the new plant.
CEO Mr. Philippe Varin of PSA Peugeot Citroen was quoted in the media as saying that the company is in an active phase in its bid to re -launch the Peugeot branch and the company at this moment will not reveal much but the media can surely expect some new-bites in the month of February 2011. To start with, Peugeot initially zeroed in on Andhra Pradesh as its home for the new facility with a total capacity to produce 100,000 units, but unfortunately a few glitches came in the way and the plan had to be re-looked at. PSA Peugeot is also in talk with Avtec, in which Hindustan Motors has a stake in order to source important components like transmission and engine. It must be noted the French major is the only OEM from the list of top-10 global automakers to have absolutely no presence in the country. Sales for the last years across the world stood at 3.18 million units, out of which 58 percent belonged to Peugeot alone and the rest by Citroen.
It is highly probable that the brand will be positioned in a way so as to garner greater volumes than Citroen, in an event both the automakers make a decision to foray in to the Indian market. Mr. Philippe added that the Peugeot brand is not a new-comer in the Indian market. It had a fair amount of history in the country. He was referring to the failed joint-venture with Premier Automobile which together launched the 309.
In another report it has been mentioned that the RCZ sports coupe which hit the international market last year would make an Indian debut. The sports coupe is available in 3 different engine options-200bhp, 163bhp, 156bhp. The estimated cost of the car is expected to be around the Rs 40 lakhs figure mark. The car is based on the 308 RCZ concept which Peugeot revealed at the motor show held at Frankfurt in 2007.
