Peugeot revving up for India entry

Over a decade after it left India, Peugeot which is now PSA Peugeot Citroen is revving up for an India entry. The French major plans an estimated investment of around Rs 6,000 crore to set up a plant. Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are in the race to get that investment.

In a media interaction, Philippe Varin, CEO of PSA Peugeot Citroen said his company has entered “an active phase” regarding its India plans and that it “will probably have something to say in January or February.”

In 2007, Peugeot had selected Andhra Pradesh to set up its plant with an annual production capacity of 100,000 units but that ran into a few problems. The French company is reportedly in talks with Avtec – where  Hindustan Motors has a stake – to source critical components like engine and transmission.

PSA Peugeot Citroen is the only OEM from among the top 10 global players to have no India presence. Its global sales in 2009 stood at 3.18 million units, 58 percent of which came from Peugeot.

It is likely that the Peugeot brand will be positioned to garner more volumes than Citroen should both brands be introduced in India. Varin has been quoted as saying that  “the Peugeot brand has been in India before so it already has some history there.” Varin was referring to the joint venture with Premier Automobiles which launched the 309.