Others News
- Peugeot beefs up ties with Shenzhen
Date: 1-Nov-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
PSA Peugeot Citroen would step up cooperation with Chinese partners in its joint venture in Shenzhen, visiting Peugeot Citroen CEO Christian Streiff told Shenzhen leaders Tuesday.
Streiff, who met with Shenzhen Party chief Li Hongzhong and Mayor Xu Zongheng on Tuesday, also visited Peugeot Citroen's joint venture in the city.
China Aviation Industry Corporation II, Harbin Hafei Automobile Industry Group Co. and Peugeot Citroen signed a memorandum of understanding in June to jointly set up a production base in Shenzhen.
Separately, Peugeot Citroen will soon make a decision on whether to build its third car plant in China, the French carmaker's global head said, as it moves to double its market share in the world's second largest auto market by 2015.
Peugeot, Europe's No. 2 automaker by volume, is doubling capacity at its Central China plant to 300,000 vehicles a year by 2008, and building a second facility to add capacity of 150,000 units per year.
'We are working on a decision... on a third plant,'Christian Streiff, CEO of PSA Peugeot Citroen, told reporters on the sidelines of an industry forum in Shanghai, adding the decision would be finalized by the end of this year or the beginning of 2008.
If it decided to go ahead with the plan, the plant would be located in the central city of Wuhan or the city of Hangzhou near Shanghai and operated by Dongfeng Peugeot Citreon Automotive, its joint venture with China's Dongfeng Motor, he said. A third plant would also likely have an annual capacity of 150,000 cars.
Peugeot, which is also considering making commercial vehicles with another Chinese partner, was aiming to increase its market share in China to 5 percent in four years, when it is expected to move 600,000 vehicles annually, from 4 percent now, Streiff said.
Its share of the market, where major players include General Motors and Volkswagen AG, would rise further to roughly 7 percent by 2014-2015 when it expects to move 1 million vehicles, he said.
Peugeot's sales could rise 25-30 percent this year, up from more than 200,000 vehicles in 2006, a senior company executive said.
Peugeot, the maker of the hot-selling, medium-priced Peugeot 307 and C-triomphe sedans in China, would roll out 12 new models in the country in the run-up to 2010, Streiff said.
Its second plant, which is still under construction in Central China and scheduled to start operation in 2009, will make premium models, putting Peugeot in head-on competition with BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen's Audi division.
Premium carmakers in China have been enjoying buoyant sales as the number of the wealthy consumers jumps.
The French chief executive also said Peugeot was still in discussion with Harbin Hafei Automobile Industry Group Co. for a possible tie-up on the production of commercial vehicles, such as light trucks and vans.
But he declined to give details. In June, the European automaker signed a preliminary agreement with Hafei on such cooperation. A source told reporters in September the investment would be at least 2 billion yuan (US$267.6 million).
If the deal goes ahead, it would give Peugeot a foothold in China's commercial vehicle market where Ford Motor and General Motors already have had a headstart.
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