A very surprising and little disappointing news coming from the market says that French automaker Peugeot Citroen is not content with the financial slowdown prevailing in the European market and has initiated the not so pleasant efforts of shutting down its Mumbai office. The situation being faced in the European market has forced the duo to review their Indian plans.
As we all know recently the firm had directed all its attention to its Sanand plant in Gujarat with an estimated investment of Rs. 4500 crore and annual capacity of 170,000 units. The company was also very keen on launching a mid-sized sedan in the year 2014 but now that the financial crisis in Europe is drawing a lot of concern, the maker might slow down its Indian operations.
image – Peugeot 508 sedan
Jonathan Goodman, director relations press, PSA Peugeot Citroen said, “The group is currently evaluating the scheduling of the project, which may lead to some adjustments to the schedule as it currently stands,”
Initially when entering India after a pretty long while, the manufacturer was considering getting into a partnership but after evaluating all the potential partners the brand decided on moving alone. Now it could get into a joint venture with a local firm to bring value to its investment and the expected India bound models, 508 sedan and Peugeot 208 small car could see delays of not just few months but years.
Owners of both the potential partners, Dunlop India and Eicher Motors, are unwilling to say anything on their future plans in context with Peugeot so it would be interesting to see how Peugeot is able to get something out of the huge investment it made into the market and when the expected models will be launched.
Source – ET
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