80 Citroen DS stores to be operating in China by end of 2012, Changan PSA VP confirms

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai July 17) - French PSA, which has been bearing the brunt of the euro crisis, has had to deal with both falling profits and rising production costs in its home country of France. Recently, PSA's French division announced that it would be axing 3,000 jobs. In a China Business News report appearing today, Changan PSA Vice President Cai Jianjun confirmed that the manufacturer's difficulties in Europe will not influence its development plans for China. "On the contrary, [PSA's] European headquarters will devote more resources to the Chinese market," Mr. Cai stated.

Mr. Cai (pictured above) made the remarks at the opening ceremony for the first Citroën DS Store in Shanghai. The joint venture has plans to open two more DS Stores in Shanghai by the end of the year. The stores will make up an important part of the independent sales network for the Citroën DS product range in China.

In describing the manufacturer's plans for the DS models, Mr. Cai explains, "our first batch of sales will [come from] first-tier cities, and later move on to second-tier cities." Changan PA plans to have 80 DS Stores operating across 55 cities by the end of 2013. That amount looks set to increase to 200 dealerships in 111 cities by the end of 2015.

At the same time, Mr. Cai is very cautious regarding sales for the DS line in its first year in China. "There is still a large margin for brand awareness for the DS brand in China to increase," he said, adding that, "[our] most important work over the next two years is to offer multiple channels for customers to better understand [our brand]."

The DS4 and DS5 (pictured below) made their market debut last month, and will be followed by the DS3 in August. Domestic production of DS vehicles is expected to begin next year.