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!

However, the company’s India expansion plans have seem to hit a roadblock. News comes in through TheEconomicTimes that the company is shutting down its Mumbai office and re-evaluating its India plans.

Jonathan Goodman, director relations presse, PSA Peugeot Citroen -

The group is currently evaluating the scheduling of the project, which may lead to some adjustments to the schedule as it currently stands.

The reason for this ‘re-evaluation’ seems to be the declining sales in the European region where PSA stands as the second largest manufacturer. The car maker is re-evaluating the strategies for “frugal spending” on the India project to get maximum bang for buck. Further adding to that, the car maker is once again searching for partners who could help them with their India strategy.

[Source: Economictimes.indiatimes.com]

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.

In a modern market where consumers are constantly searching for something new and exciting, research cost spiral high. To offset the research cost and to achieve economies of scale, manufacturers join hands. A leading example is Renault-Nissan partnership which (when combined) is one of the top 5 auto manufacturer in the world.

Fiat and PSA almost seem like a match made in heaven. While Fiat suffers from excess capacity, PSA production is spread among French plants that are too small and costly to stay profitable in the event of a price war. Both the automakers could benefit in the longer term from pooling their strongest products.

What are your thoughts on the partnership?

Source: AutoNews

Cars displayed are the ones heading initially towards Indian shores – 3008 hybrid4, RCZ, 3008 crossover and 908 LeMans car

Peugeot has taken inspiration from its neighbors – Precision from Switzerland, Quality from Germany with French style and flair

High-end racing is a part of DNA of Peugeot [908 race car showcased]

Peugeot 908 has won 12/14 races it participated in a prestigious racing series

Launches of Indian cars will start in the latter half of 2013

Peugeot 508 is the first of the cars to be assembled and available in India

Peugeot will use top-down strategy

508 is for the young customer looking for luxury and performance

Peugeot at Auto Expo 2012 Image Slideshow

Can’t see slideshow above? Head to the Peugeot Flickr Image Gallery page

To start off with, Peugeot will use the same ‘top-down approach’ that Renault used to enter India. Essentially, the more expensive cars will be launched first to create brand awareness and publicity and then the smaller hatchbacks will target the mass market audience. The first will be 508 sedan which will be a D+ sedan aimed at Honda Accord, the Toyota Camry, the Volkswagen Passat and the Skoda Superb.  Considering the 508 will be a CBU, it is sure to touch 20-30 lakh brackets.

Peugeot will also showcase the RCZ sports coupe to give a glimpse of their technological prowess. The RCZ is powered by 1.6 litre petrol engine or a 2.0 litre diesel engine and has a very expressive design language.

We are not sure whether the 207 hatchback will be present at the expo as the successor 208 has already been launched in the international markets.

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.

Peugeot 508 spyshot Image Slideshow

Can’t see the slideshow above? Head over to the Peugeot 508 spyshot Flickr page to see all images.

The new 208 forgoes the old design language in favor of the new one previewed on the 508. The key design characteristics of this language include a floating grille, stretched back headlamps and boomerang style tail lamps.

The headlamps are very chic

It will be offered in 2 body styles – 3 door and 5 door. Unlike most successor models, the 208 has actually been shortened 3 inches and made lighter by another 245 pounds. According to Peugeot, the smaller exterior dimensions do not have a negative impact on interior space because of carefully designed ergonomics. The 208 offers 50mm more knee space for rear passengers and 15 liters more boot space.

The taillamps are even better than the chic headlamps

Just like the exterior design, the interior has been redesigned from the grounds up. It now features a reach-and-height adjustable steering wheel and an elevated instrument binnacle with the touch screen that infotainment.

The interiors are very premium and sporty

The 208 will be powered by a pair of three-cylinder VVT petrol and diesel engines of 1.0 and 1.2 liters. An auto stop and start system will make sure that you are not wasting fuel when idling at the traffic light thus increasing fuel efficiency.

This does beg the question – Why is Peugeot testing the older 207 model in India? As Peugeot will launch the 508 sedan in India first, 207 will be obsolete by the time it is launched in India. Is Peugeot testing the 207 to just gather information about the road and environment conditions?

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.

[Source - CarsUK.net]

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.