Dongfeng Peugeot to build Citroen C5 at Wuhan plant

A senior official from PSA Peugeot Citroen has told the Beijing Morning Post that production of the Citroen C5 is due to start in China by 2010. This would make it the largest vehicle yet built locally by the OEM and give PSA a challenger for the big selling Guangzhou Toyota Camry and Guangzhou Honda Accord sedans.

Jean-Louis Chamla, vice president of international sales and marketing for PSA, is quoted as saying the car is currently being modified for local tastes at its Wuhan engineering complex. The second generation C5, a four-door sedan and wagon range, was introduced at the Brussels motor show in January 2008. It is built at the Rennes-la-Jannais plant in western France.

Chamla also notes that the brand will introduce one new model in China in each of the next three years but did not state if these would be locally built, the Gasgoo.com portal reports.

PSA currently builds the Citroen Fukang, Elysee, C2, Picasso, C-Triomphe and Xsara as well as the Peugeot 206 and 307 at Citroen's joint venture plant that it shares with Dongfeng Motor.

Chamla says Citroen's medium term aim for the local market is to lift its brand image and profitability, stating that some 70% of its current sales volume comes from the low priced Fukang, Elysee and C2 models.

"Over the past decade, Citroen has presented a low end car image to Chinese consumers, and now Citroen wants to change that image," the newspaper quotes the PSA vice president as saying.

Chamla is expecting the OEM to sell 150,000 cars in China this year, an ambitious 30% rise over 2007's 115,000 vehicles.