PSA Peugeot Citroën and Dongfeng Motor Group Company have selected Wuhan, Hubei Province, as the site of a new Dongfeng Peugeot Citroën Automobiles (DPCA) production facility with capacity of 150,000 vehicles a year.
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The new unit will be located near DPCA’s existing plant and comprise three main facilities: body-in-white assembly, paint shop and final assembly.
Construction will begin at the end of the year, with the lines scheduled to come on stream in 2009. They will be dedicated to the production of upper mid-range models built on PSA’s platform 3.
This investment in China further strengthens DPCA’s fast expanding production base, which already employs more than 8,200 people.
The Wuhan plant currently produces seven different models and is gradually doubling capacity to increase the original site’s potential output to 300,000 vehicles per year in 2008.
To support this growth in automobile production, DPCA will also add capacity at its mechanical components plant in Xiang Fang, Hubei to double the number of engines, gearboxes and chassis systems supplied to its Wuhan factories.
Following start-up of production on platforms 1 and 2 in China in mid-2004, the announcement of a new plant provides further support for the process of strengthening DPCA’s product plan.
By the end of the decade, the joint venture will offer a comprehensive range of vehicles, from compact cars to large executive saloons. In 2006 alone, three new models are being launched: the Peugeot 206 in March, the Citroën C-Triomphe (C4 sedan) in May and a new Citroën compact at year-end.
Amid continuing strong demand in the passenger car market, DPCA sold 100 200 units in the first six months, up 38% from the prior-year period. The joint venture’s full-year sales objective is over 200,000 vehicles.
