Citroen C5 will be locally produced in China

Shanghai. October 19 (Gasgoo.com) When Citroen C5 debutted in Paris earlier this week, the automaker's general manager Gilles Michel announced the vehilce will also be locally produced in central China's Wuhan.

"The model will be produced in Dongfeng PSA's second plant in Wuhan," Michel said. However, Michel did say when the C5 model will be available in Chinese market.

PSA sold 202,000 vehicles last year and the company’s the sales forecasts for 2007 and 2008 are 260,000 units and 300,000 units respectively. Aging models and bottleneck capacity have been key factors in PSA's recent slow increase in China.

During the first half of this year, PSA sold around 103,000 vehicles in China, gaining a slim 2% compared with last year. In contrast, the Chinese market as a whole increased by an average of 26.3%t.

Currently, Citroen brand models Fukang, Elysee, Picasso, Triomphe and Xsara and Peugeot brand models 206 and 307 are sold in China.

By 2010, PSA will set up the third factory with its partner Dongfeng Automotive Company, and will introduce 12 new models to its product line-up. By 2015, the French automaker will set up a R&D center in China.