Tuesday, February 07, 2012
By Manoj Kumawat
Maruti, Hyundai cars watch out, Peugeot is coming back
French car maker Peugeot has geared up for some real action in India giving sleepless nights to the domestic largest car maker Maruti. It has reportedly said that it will be launching small cars and sedans in India as part of its reentry plan for India. Notably, the car maker has earlier made an exit from India in 1997 and after 14 years has recently made a reentry at the Auto Expo held in New Delhi. The car maker has also had zeroed in Sanand in Gujarat as its car plant location. Initially, the car maker will be launching a sedan called Peugeot 508 followed by a hatchback Peugeot 207 in the mid of this year. However, the European crisis could bring dark clouds over India plans for the time being.
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The French car maker has been in the process of reentering India perhaps after lukewarm sales in its homeland. At the recent Auto Expo held in New Delhi, Peugeot 3008, Peugeot RCZ which is a mix of SUV, MPV and a hatchback and luxury sedan Peugeot 508 were showcased. Apart from this the car maker has an array of cars in its line up and sensing the immense potential in India, it has decided to flood in with Peugeot hatchbacks and Peugeot sedans in India. With the Peugeot cars in India, these will primarily be in competition with the largest car maker Maruti which is struggling with not so good sales lately.
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Besides Maruti, Peugeot cars will make the ground tough for Hyundai, however experts believe that though the brand is not new in India, it will take some time to settle and attain the trust of the masses who have till now almost forgotten Peugeot and will consider it as a new brand.
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As per the reports, Peugeot has some big plans for India, with its dedicated plant to start operations in another two years from now in Sanand (Gujarat) which is also the homeland of Tata Nano, Peugeot will be bringing cars in India based on the low cost platform which is the M3 platform.
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The first entry will be with a mid-sized sedan that will be shaking the firm ground of the likes of Maruti Swift Dzire. The 1.3L diesel engine powered Peugeot sedan will focus the volume and so it is expected to be priced quite attractively. The sedan will be followed by a hatch based on the M3 platform. After the CBU route the company plans to assemble these cars in India.
