Tuesday, April 24, 2012
By Shilpa Chopra
Peugeot might manufacture cars in India with its global partner GM
The French auto maker Peugeot Citroen proclaimed on Tuesday that the company might plan to develop cars in India in alliance with General Motors. The company formed its global alliance with General Motors just a few days ago. Peugeot may drop its plan of investing 650 million euro ($850 million) in its plant. Peugeot is expected to start its second innings in the domestic market with a small car and a compact sedan, though the details about both the cars are still under the wraps.
Mr. Gregoire Olivier, head of Asian operations for Peugeot stated that the company will find a way to utilise GM plants to uphold Peugeot’s plans to re-enter the Indian car market. At the Beijing Motor Show Olivier mentioned that the company is not keen at building their own facility as the company has earlier planned.
Peugeot’s global partner General Motors is already present in the domestic market therefore Peugeot is mulling over to carry on its manufacturing in GM’s facilities. However GM does not plan to assemble cars for Peugeot in India, the company spokeswoman Lori Arpin mentioned.
GM has no plans to assemble cars for Peugeot in India, company spokeswoman Lori Arpin said, without elaborating. The American car maker General Motors has a JV with its Chinese partner Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp in India; GM will soon roll out Chevrolet Sail along with Chevrolet Enjoy in India which are developed in alliance with SAIC. GM India has two plants in India one is near Mumbai and the other one is located in Halol, Gujarat.
Peugeot seized its India operation back in 1997 since the company failed to impress the Indian customers. The company back then had an alliance with Premier Automobiles Ltd. The company had been contemplating to re-enter India for over last two years. GM and Peugeot formed the global alliance in the vehicle development and production on February 29th, 2012. Commenting on this partnership, GM Chief Executive Dan Akerson informed that the alliance with Peugeot is a “Euro-centric play”.
