PSA Peugeot-Citroen is Going to Set up a Production Facility in India

PSA Peugeot-Citroen, the second biggest car maker of Europe, now wants to enter into the Indian car market, setting up a manufacturing plant in the country. Well-known for strong, stylish, small and mid-size passenger car as well as motorcycle, Peugeot-Citroen along with IMIRB, a market research firm, conducted a market research in India last October. Having realized the market potential, the French automaker is looking to launch a production facility in India and they are already in search of a suitable location in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. They have recently held talks with government officials of the two states and Automotive Research Association of India in order to know the rules and regulations of getting the approval of setting up a manufacturing plant in India.

Peugeot-Citroen initially wants to enter into the Indian market with its hatchback 307 and sedan C5 models. However, the company has not revealed any time-frame of setting up the plant. India has one of the fastest growing car markets and the growth of the Indian car market has been accelerated by the increasing number of Indian middle class population over the last few years. No doubt, the French automaker is now looking to create new market for their products as the European auto industry is suffering from global economic recession. Moreover, setting up a plant in India would help Peugeot-Citroen cut their production cost and thus they will be more competitive in European market too. So, this is a good initiative taken by Peugeot-Citroen in this time of global economic recession.

(This entry was first published in February 2009. Because of a technical problem, the entry had to be deleted and I am reposting again now.)