The Indian automobile market is most likely to witness PSA Peugeot Citroen introduce Peugeot 508 sedan in 2012. However, the Gujarat plant of the company will start functioning from 2014. PSA Peugeot Citroen will import the 508 sedan as a completely built unit (CBU), which will be available in both diesel and petrol. The car variants price range will be somewhere between Rs. 18 lacs and Rs. 22 lacs and will compete against Volkswagen Passat and Honda Accord.
PSA Peugeot Citroen is one of the biggest car manufacturers to setup base in Gujarat. The state of Gujarat offers car makers with up-to-date infrastructure and there are many others who have already setup production units in the state. PSA Peugeot Citroen is expected to invest around Rs. 4000 crores and the plant is expected to have an annual capacity to produce 3.4 lac units.
The work at the plant has already started, however, it is still not sure when the mass production will begin. Peugeot has been given a land of around 560 acres at Sanand which is near Ahemadabad. In the beginning the manufacturing unit will be set up on only 292 acres of land that will produce around 1.7 lac units annually.
According to an industry official who is closely associated with this development said, “They've decided to come with Peugeot, because they feel that it has a brand recall in India. They will start test marketing with CBU models from 2012 before the volume models come in.” Although PSA Peugeot Citroen is the last of the top ten international brands to enter the Indian automobile market, it is all set to make it big and gain a strong foothold in the market.
