The Wall Street Journal (New Delhi) - PSA Peugeot-Citroen Thursday said it is continuing to scout for a location to build a car manufacturing factory in India.
The comments follow an announcement by the Tamil Nadu government that the French auto maker will invest 40 billion rupees ($890 million) building a car manufacturing factory with an initial capacity of 300,000 vehicles a year.
"We have no comment to make about the project at this stage. We are still actively looking for an industrial location," said Jean-Baptiste Mounier, a spokesman for Peugeot-Citroen.
The Tamil Nadu government said in a statement late Wednesday that the vehicles produced by Peugeot-Citroen at Sriperumpudur in the south Indian state will be sold in the local market and overseas.
Peugeot-Citroen, Europe's second-largest auto maker by sales, said in February that it was evaluating several locations for a factory in India. It plans to initially sell a mid-sized sedan in the country.
The company aims to generate more than 50% of its sales outside Europe by 2015. Establishing a presence in India, where automobile sales have been growing rapidly thanks to an expanding middle class and rising disposable incomes, will help Peugeot-Citroen inch closer to its target.
Senior executives from Peugeot-Citroen--including Gregoire Olivier, chief executive of Asian operations, China and Frederic Fabre, managing director of its India unit--met with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa to seek land for the proposed project, the government statement said.
"The project is expected to provide direct employment to about 5,000 and indirect employment to another 15,000," it said, adding that several auto parts makers from France are also expected to set up factories along with the Peugeot-Citroen unit.
