There’s plenty of car money to be made in China, and everyone is either striking deals, building plants or increasing output. Now, French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen revealed that it has attained Chinese government approval for a production joint venture with China Changan Automobile Group. The approval comes exactly a year after both parties signed the JV agreement.
Located in Shenzhen, the 50:50 JV will have initial annual production capacity of 200,000 vehicles and a similar amount of engines. Production is expected to start in the second half of 2012, comprising passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. Citroen’s DS line will be launched in China and a proprietary car brand is in the works. Initial investment in the JV will amount to 8.4 billion yuan, according to PSA.
This is actually PSA’s second production JV in China, after a similar setup with Dongfeng Motor Corp. That partnership sold 194,566 Citroens and Peugeots in the first six months of 2011, up 10.2% year-on-year. Buoyed by strong 408 sales, the Peugeot brand saw a 19% increase to 80,893 units, while Citroen sales jumped 6% to 113,673 units.
Closer to home, production of the Peugeot 408 (name not confirmed for our region yet) is scheduled to start by the end of 2011 at Naza’s Gurun plant.
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By any chance this car would be available in malaysia?
Maybe Berjaya Changan can bring it in.
watch this car review on top gear S17E02…quite nice..
China’s a good market for car brands as the new rich are looking for ‘different’ brands to show their wealth. Need to know what market tick to be successful.