Shanghai, July 28 (Gasgoo.com) French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen SA said today that its growing sales of new cars in China and a slew of new models helped the company return to profit in the first half of the year, the AP reported.
The second-largest carmaker in Europe announced that it made a net profit of euro680 million ($886 million) in the first six months, compared with a euro962 million net loss of a year earlier. Revenues increased by 20.8% to euro28.39 billion.
China sales of Peugeot and Citroen vehicles increased 49% in the first half of this year to more than 176,000 units, and full-year sales are expected to reach 400,000 cars. A new local venture may help PSA hit its goal of selling 2 million vehicles annually in China by 2020.
Peugeot Citroen has two Chinese factories of a combined 450,000-unit capacity with its local joint venture partner Dongfeng Motor Corp that "delivered a major increase in both sales and earnings" in the first half. The Dongfeng-PSA venture is planning to build a third plant.
Earlier this month PSA began a second joint venture in China to make small, low-emission cars with Changan Automobile Group. CEO Philippe Varin said that this second partnership "represents a major step toward growing our business outside Europe.
PSA will launch its newly released Citroen DS3 sub-compact to the Chinese market and will introduce a new brand for the venture. The French carmaker will introduce one model to China each year.
