PSA on track to build 3rd China plant

French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroën is on track to build a new China car plant with Dongfeng Motor Group and is looking to export from China as early as 2011, said Gregoire Olivier, head of Asian operations. PSA Peugeot, a long-time partner of Dongfeng Motor, has been speeding up expansion in the world’s biggest auto market, where General Motors Corp. and Volkswagen AG are leading. It signed a deal to set up a vehicle venture with China Changan Automotive Group in July and will start the construction of its third car facility with Dongfeng at the end of the year. The move would give PSA a combined annual capacity of 400,000 units. In China, now PSA Peugeot’s second-largest market, Olivier said he expected its Dongfeng venture to sell 350,000 cars this year, up 28.7% from a year earlier. Eventually, the French company wants to have 8% of China’s auto market, up from 3.3% now. (September 4, 2010)