Dongfeng-PSA joint venture resumes production at Wuhan plant

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Good news came from DPCA (Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile Co.,Ltd). The joint venture between Dongfeng Motor Group and French automaker PSA Groupe announced it officially resumed the work and production at its Wuhan plant on March 25 after a two-month shutdown due to the coronavirus spread.

On the very first day, the Wuhan plant saw an all-new Dongfeng Peugeot 2008 formally roll off the production line, marking the completion of production resumption for DPCA's nationwide manufacturing bases.

DPCA's Xiangyang plant restarted operation on March 12 and returned to two shifts only four days later for its transmission export unit to ramp up capacity at full tilt. It plans to export to Europe 370,000 units of transmission parts in 2020. To achieve that goal, the two-shift schedule will continue until the third quarter.

The Xiangyang factory focuses on producing engines, transmission and axles. As of March 17, its outputs of to-be-exported transmission have exceeded 5,400 units, a significant leap compared to the beginning day, said DPCA.

The Chengdu factory has resumed production as well. On March 15, 12 container trucks loaded with a total of 47,300-unit auto parts (amounting to 24 CKDs) departed from the factory to port on schedule, and the goods are expected to arrive at the destination in Malaysia around April 10.

The Chengdu plant intends to export 6,048 CKDs (complete knock down kits) in 2020—2,712 to Vietnam and 3,336 to Malaysia. Of those, 144 CKDs left China in January.

Dongfeng Motor Group, headquartered in the epicenter Wuhan, is moving forward with its work and production resumption since the epidemic is being effectively controlled. The subsidiaries in Xiangyang and Shiyan took the lead. In Wuhan, Dongfeng Honda and Dongfeng Passenger Vehicle Company were permitted to resume operation from March 10, while are currently working one shift instead of two due to the low attendance of employees. Besides, Dongfeng Nissan also reopened its Xiangyang plant on March 12 (photo source: DPCA).