Shanghai, December 23 (Gasgoo.com) Though the company is facing the unprecedented difficulties amid the global financial crisis, Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Auto (DPCA) has not slowed its project of making new models for the Chinese market, said xinhuanet.com today. In mid-2009, the joint venture will start production of the Peugeot 408 and will launch this new model simultaneously with the European market.
With construction of the venture's second plant completed, its Platform 3 will be used to make a series of new Peugeot and Citroen models in China. In 2009, PSA/Peugeot-Citroen will attack Chinese market leader Volkswagen by producing Peugeot's 407 and 408 cars and the Citroen C5 in the Chinese venture, whose output will reach 460,000 vehicles by 2011.
The Peugeot 408, code-named W23 in the company, is the first Peugeot B-class model to be built in China. It has been revamped for the Chinese market and next year its production will start on Platform 3 at the joint venture's newly built second plant. The China-made Peugeot 408 is to be launched at the same time with its European sister model in the second half of 2009.
The Citroen C5 sedan will be also launched in China in 2009, says PSA. The car will be built at the new factory, too. The sedan will compete with the Passat. The Peugeot 407 is also expected to begin production next year, according to supplier sources. The C5 and the 407 share the new platform.
Currently, Citroen models Fukang, Elysee, C2, Picasso, C-Triomphe, Xsara and Peugeot models 206 and 307 are built at Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Auto in central China's city of Wuhan, but around 70% of its overall sales come from low-priced Fukang, Elysee and C2 models.
The DPCA, a 50:50 joint venture between China's Dongfeng Motor and the French auto giant PSA Group, has plans to introduce new car models for local production. PSA expects to sell 150,000 cars in China this year, a 30% increase over 2007's 115,000 vehicles.
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