The economic slowdown in Europe has derailed PSA Peugeot Citroen's plant of launching in India, but as per its new alliance with General Motors (GM), the veteran auto manufacturer may have an ace up its sleeve. During the announcement of the joint alliance, it has been said that initiatives in South America and other developing markets would be closely looked at. Autocar Professional was told that India could be one of the potential markets.
PSA Peugeot Citroen has developed a global EB engine for powering a few of its products. This engine is available in 1.0 litre and 1.2 litre variants, which would be ideally suited for several hatchbacks and entry-level sedans in India. Also, based on the EB engine platform, several fuel efficient and high performance engines would be derived, as an offshoot of the global strategic alliance. Commenting on this, a company official said, “The next generation of the EB engine will be developed to meet the Euro 7 norms which will come into effect in a few years.”
Though the alliance has been created for European markets, it would primarily include the Opel or Vauxhall brands from GM. However, Opel has not done well in India, due to the expensive vehicles and high maintenance demands. But as the Polo from Volkswagen has managed to create its niche, there certainly is scope for other European brands in India as well.
The markets for selling vehicles as an outcome of this alliance have not been clearly assigned, but the developments are being closely watched by auto experts. As cross vehicle platforms are being developed, this would help both companies to greatly reduce manufacturing costs.
