A business daily says Groupe PSA is planning to build a B segment car at its Indian JV in 2020.
No sources are quoted by the Economic Times, but the Indian newspaper claims the model in question has a codename of SC21.
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The vehicle is reportedly being developed as a competitor for the Maruti Suzuki Swift. That model is currently Maruti’s number four best selling vehicle, and holds the same position in the sales charts, with deliveries of 157,578 units as at the end of November.
The ET does not name the model’s architecture. Logically, this would be CMP, which is for smaller Groupe PSA and Dongfeng Motor vehicles.
The French firm and its Chinese part-owner co-developed this low-cost platform. The newly launched Fengshen AX4 was the first model for CMP. Multiple future Citroen, DS, Opel/Vauxhall and Peugeot vehicles will be underpinned by its matrix of modules.
In January 2017, Groupe PSA announced a deal with New Delhi-based CK Birla Group for a return to the local market via a JV. This will mean production at a Hindustan Motors plant in Chennai. Presently, this site assembles Mitsubishi vehicles.
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By GlobalDataSC21 will likely be based on the next generation Peugeot 208. That car is due for release in France during the third quarter of 2019. Another possibility is that Groupe PSA will instead ship the tooling from the current 208 to India. It uses the PF1 architecture and is manufactured in France, Slovakia, Brazil and China. More recently, assembly has been added at a plant in Tehran.
