PSA and Dongfeng unveil new expansion plan

The ties French group PSA Peugeot Citroen has with Chinese manufacturer Dongfeng Motor Group have grown even deeper this month, as the two partners agreed to expand their collaboration and literally flood the local market with new products.

The Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobiles joint venture (DPCA) plans to roll out no less than 12 new models in the years to come, starting with the 508, which will be launched in the country in 2011. The model will be followed by several other models, including an SUV and new small family cars.

The collaboration between the two companies will also materialize in a new facility, which will be built somewhere in China in the next five years. This will be the third manufacturing plant the joint venture operates in China and will account for the production of some 150,000 vehicles each year,

According to just-auto.com, the new plant will be located in the Wuhan province. It will be used to manufacture midrange and lower midrange vehicles which will bring the joint venture's total output to a level of 750,000 vehicles in 2015, way up from the current 450,000 units.

The expansion of the production capacity and the model range will be adorned by a complete overhaul of the engine offering, which will see no less than six new engines being launched in the first phase. The units are built to develop in between 80 and 201 hp.

The internal combustion engines will be accompanied by hybrid versions and variants which will use the French designed Start/Stop technology.

The efforts to be made over the next five years aim at securing the French-Chinese joint venture a 5 percent market share in China.