Peugeot to spend 1 billion yuan on R&D

French company, PSA Peugeot Citroen (PSA) will earmark 1 billion yuan (US$143 million) for its design, research, development and procurement center in China within the next three years, announced the company recently. A total of 500 research and development employees will gather in Shanghai to develop new PSA models that meet China’s local demand. The center’s director, Chen Yehong, recently told the media that the move aims at solving the localization problem that has been hindering PSA’s development in China for years. Through this move, it is hoped that PSA will acquire the necessary research and development ability required by the Chinese market in order to achieve the 1 million unit sales volume target by 2010. (May 7, 2008)