Back in February 2011, when Peugeot officially announced that it will enter the Indian market, the whole of India’s automotive community rejoiced. Then we saw the cars testing on the Indian roads and gave them a thumbs up. The French manufacturer finally zeroed in on a site in Gujarat for their plant before the Auto Expo.
Peugeot made its presence felt at the Indian Auto expo with hybrid cars, MPVs and race cars. They were all set to enter the market with a bang!
Sure, GM may have taken the crown of the number one manufacturer in the world. But even GM knows that it was only marginally able to pull away from the German Giant – Volkswagen.
VW is planning an onslaught to reach numero uno title and so far things seem to be on track. The group owns few of the most profitable brands such as Porsche, Skoda, Seat and Audi and is expanding its footprint throughout the globe at a breath taking pace.
With VW planning to sell 10 million vehicles annually by 2018, it will be hard for smaller manufacturers like Fiat-Chrysler to sustain themselves in the market. Thus, in order to fight the VW group, Fiat is planning to tie up with France’s PSA Peugeot-Citroen. So far, it seems the only hope for survival.
The French car manufacturer has finalized a land in Gujarat for their state of the art manufacturing facility and is finally knocking on the doors to enter the market. The company will use the Auto expo as a platform to showcase their products which will be launched in the coming years. To start off with, Peugeot will use the same ‘top-down approach’ that Renault used to enter India. Essentially, the [ Read More ]
Indian Autos Blog reader Shridip Yajnik spotted a pair of Peugeot 508s at a food plaza on the Mumbai-Pune expressway. The 508 is being formally unveiled tomorrow for India at Delhi Auto Expo.
A family of Peugeot models are on view at the French company’s stand. Peugeot’s flagship vehicle for India is the 508 and it competes in the part of the D segment consisting of Honda Accord and Skoda Laura.
The 508 could be localized a small percentage and built from kits imported from Europe at its billion dollar Gujarat plant. An alternative to this method is importing the car as a CBU.
Peugeot has to establish a dealer network in India to start selling its car and we’re not aware of one under construction in Tier 1 cities, the starting point of putting together a dealer network. Peugeot’s business plan for the Indian market will be discussed in a detailed manner tomorrow afternoon by French executives.
After announcing the plans of entry into the Indian car market, Peugeot finally sealed the deal with the Gujarat chief minister to set up a 4000 Cr plant. Since then, many 207 hatchbacks and 508 sedans have been spotted testing on the Indian streets. It is quite clear that Peugeot has plans to launch a hatchback in an already crowded segment in India. But news comes in from international automotive [ Read More ]
International blogs report that the Peugeot 207 successor, the Peugeot 208, will touch down on November 2nd. Prices and variants are likely to be listed only during the Geneva Motor Show staging in March 2012. This week’s event could be a silent affair with photographs and text unloaded on the web.
Below is the teaser video mentioning the event date.
Peugeot is targeting no less than 500,000 units a year out of which nearly 30% is expected to be consumed by France. There is a saloon version of the vehicle on the cards as well, just like Nissan did with the Micra and the Sunny. The report on CarsUK states that the 208 will be shorter and lighter than the 207, but clever packaging liberates more interior room. This has also worked to lower fuel consumption. Peugeot was seen testing 3- and 5-door editions of the 207 around India this year.
Under the hood, Peugeot is following the Micra’s footsteps with a 3-pot petrol engine and a 90bhp e-Diesel engine. Peugeot has identified Gujarat as its production hub for the Indian market as well as exports to surrounding countries. The 208 is the likely candidate to roll out of this plant once construction is finished sometime in 2013.
Peugeot’s rigorous testing program for the 207 carries on as IAB reader Sujit found out while driving in Pune. The 3-door version is not a good idea for India as attendance is mostly full in the rear seats of Indian car owners.
We like to travel with our relatives and many of us are part of joint families. Providing them a makeshift entrance by liberating space between the B-Pillar and a reclined seat is not the best way to welcome them into their newest family member. Further, many Indians appoint chauffeurs or pass on driving responsibilities to younger members in the family. In this case, the aged person experience difficulty in settling down at the back.
Peugeot is in the process of building the Gujarat production facility and as there is no plan for a joint production facility to roll the cars out of, the mini Peugeots will not hit the Indian roads till 2013.
Back in February 2011, when Peugeot officially announced that it will enter the Indian market, the whole of India’s automotive community rejoiced. Then we saw the cars testing on the Indian roads and gave them a thumbs up. The French manufacturer finally zeroed in on a site in Gujarat for their plant before the Auto Expo.
