Peugeot is pushing ahead with growth plans in Chin and Asia, the new 4008 SUV is the start of 1 Million units per year by 2018.

• A plant opened as part of the Push to Pass strategy for profitable growth, which will see 20 new launches in China and Southeast Asia by 2021
• A plant dedicated to the production of SUVs, a fast-growing segment in China
• Capacity to build 300,000 vehicles a year, in line with the target of selling one million vehicles in China and Southeast Asia in 2018
• The Peugeot 4008 will be the first vehicle produced

As part of the implementation of the Push to Pass plan and to support the China & Southeast Asia region's goal of selling one million vehicles in 2018, DPCA today inaugurated its fourth assembly plant in Chengdu, China.

The ceremony was attended by Carlos Tavares, Chairman of the Managing Board of the PSA Group; Zhu Yanfeng, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dongfeng Motor Corporation; Denis Martin, the PSA Group's Executive Vice-President, China and ASEAN; Liu Weidong, Chief Operating Officer of Dongfeng Motor Corporation; Su Weibin, General Manager of DPCA; Jean Christophe Marchal, Executive Vice-President of DPCA and representatives of Sichuan province and the municipality of Chengdu.

The fourth DPCA plant will manufacture vehicles for the Dongfeng Peugeot, Dongfeng Citroën and Dongfeng Fengshen brands on the PSA Group's EMP2 platform, primarily in the SUV segment. Production will begin with the new Peugeot 4008 SUV, which is scheduled for launch in November 2016. Following a gain of 53% in 2015, the SUV segment continued to expand rapidly in first-half 2016, with 44% growth. It currently accounts for 38.8% of the Chinese market. As a whole, the Chinese auto market offers great potential. Car ownership stands at 75 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants, and the country recently overtook the United States to become home to the world's largest middle class, which represented 110 million people at end-2015. This figure is forecast to double to 220 million by 2022.

Leveraging the best practices of PSA and Dongfeng Motor (DFM), DPCA built the plant in two years according to the highest industry standards. The world-class facility uses a flexible manufacturing system that enables close cooperation with suppliers, while adhering to the most stringent environmental principles.

In addition to the CAPSA plant in Shenzen, which manufactures DS models, DPCA's production base now comprises four assembly plants: three in Wuhan, in Hubei province, and one in Chengdu, in Sichuan province. With this new facility and DPCA's latest 5A+ medium-term plan unveiled on 11 May, the PSA Group and DFM have demonstrated their commitment to strengthening their strategic partnership in order to satisfy the needs of the Chinese market. The two partners are pursuing three clear-cut objectives for improving the joint venture's financial performance:

• Significantly increasing customer satisfaction with products and services to become one of the top three in the industry by 2018 and No. 1 by 2020
• Generating revenue in excess of RMB 100 billion by 2020
• Achieving profitable, sustainable growth underpinned by productivity gains of 30% by 2020

During the ceremony, Carlos Tavares said: "This new plant will help us to expand our vehicle range in the fast-growing SUV segment and meet the needs of our Chinese customers. It represents an important step in implementing our Push to Pass plan and achieving our objective to launch 20 new models in China by 2021 and sell over one million vehicles in the region by 2018."

CHINA - Renault plans a massive investment in China to build upwards of 800,000 units per year.

Renault will make "massive investments" in China where it sees its market share rising as high as 6 percent after the company ramps up sales of locally-built vehicles in the world's biggest car market.

Renault has lagged rivals such as Volkswagen and PSA/Peugeot-Citroen in expanding in China, relying on strong sales of its popular small cars in Europe and other emerging markets to help it cope in a shaky global economy.

Renault sold just 34,000 cars in China last year, compared with PSA's 734,000 sales, but the company believes that will change once it starts selling vehicles next year through a joint venture with China's Dongfeng Motor.

"In China, we will have a minimum of 3 percent and very likely 6 percent of the market," Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn told reporters on Monday. "That's a lot of cars, and that means you can expect a massive investment program in China in the coming years," he added, declining to give figures.

Renault is building a Chinese factory in Wuhan with an initial production capacity of 100,000 vehicles, with the aim of ramping up output to more than 500,000 cars.

The company says it is on target to launch its first locally manufactured vehicle in China, a compact crossover, in 2016. "Construction of the facility has been completed, and the assembly lines are currently being installed," Renault said in a statement last month.

Ghosn said in October that the automaker could sell up to 800,000 vehicles a year in China including imported and locally built cars.

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One year on for Renault and Dongfeng, and its nearly time to produce the first cars.

• One year after the joint venture agreement with Dongfeng was signed, construction of the Wuhan plant is well under way.
• To boost sales and prepare for future launches, the joint venture is now managing the sales teams of Renault China.
• Before the plant’s first vehicles are launched in 2016, the Renault network will begin selling the Captur next year. 

One year after the creation of Dongfeng Renault Automotive Company (DRAC), Renault’s joint venture with Dongfeng, the Group is on target to launch its first locally manufactured vehicle in China in 2016.

Work on the plant in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, is moving forward according to schedule. Construction of the facility has been completed, and the assembly lines are currently being installed.

Several important milestones were achieved on the C segment crossover which will be the first vehicle to be manufactured at the plant. Renault engineering signed off responsibility to DRAC in April, and the first prototypes were manufactured and homologated this autumn.

“I would like to stress the commitment of our teams, both diverse and multicultural, over the course of this year. We made progress on all fronts involving production and sales, in terms of developing the range as well as our joint venture,” said DRAC CEO Jacques Daniel.

A high local content rate

The synergies offered by Dongfeng and Nissan, present in China for ten years running, have buoyed the project in terms of both the building of the plant and manufacturing, promising increased speed and lower costs. The Wuhan region boasts a particularly dense network of suppliers, resulting in a high local content rate from the outset. 

DRAC now oversees Renault China network teams

On July 1, DRAC took over management of the Renault Beijing Automotive Co. (RBAC) teams in charge of selling and marketing imported Renault vehicles in China. This change has stimulated the coordination of the country’s one hundred or so dealerships as they prepare for future launches. The Captur, which was presented at the Beijing Motor Show last April, will be sold in 2015.

Renault has high expectations when it comes to Chinese sales.

Renault, a latecomer to China, could sell up to 800,000 vehicles annually in the country, CEO Carlos Ghosn said.

Renault will open a factory in Wuhan, China, with Dongfeng Motor in 2016. The plant will have an initial annual capacity of 150,000 units that can be doubled if there is enough local demand.

Ghosn said an annual 800,000 sales volume is possible for the Renault brand, including locally built and imported vehicles. Renault sold 32,000 vehicles in China last year.

"Renault has a 4 percent market share globally. It is a reasonable objective for Renault to reproduce this in China," Ghosn said on the sidelines of the Paris auto show. Ghosn said 4 percent of 20 million cars and LCVs is 800,000. He did not give a time frame for when Renault might reach 800,000 unit sales in the world’s biggest market.

“There is only growth ahead of us” even if Chinese market conditions become difficult, Ghosn said.

Renault plans to build two crossovers, a compact car and a midsize model in China.

Ghosn does not expect that the automaker will have problems significantly ramping up production volume in China because the models Renault will build in China are based on common platforms with alliance partner Nissan. which already has a joint venture with Dongfeng.

Nissan already a supply chain in place, Ghosn said.

Renault has previously said its long-term annual sales target for China is 600,000 to 700,000 vehicles.

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Nick Gibbs

Citroën launches new SUV, for China only, hopefully it will come to Europe.

• New  C3-XR unveiled at C_42, Paris
• New Crossover to be launched in China at the end of the year
• Chinese market is a key growth area for Citroën, representing more than one in four sales for the brand

CITROËN is continuing its strategy of globalisation and asserting its position as a truly international automotive manufacturer. At the heart of this strategy is the Chinese market, which now represents more than one in four sales for the brand. It is for this important market that CITROËN has unveiled, at C_42 on the Champs Elysées, the new C3-XR, a compact SUV projecting robustness, elegance and dynamism.

Citroën is further accelerating its policy of developing sales in overseas markets and consolidating its status as a global brand. In recent months, this global approach has taken on a new dimension with sales worldwide up 7% in the first half of 2014, above the growth in the market (+4%).

CITROËN is growing fast in China, with sales up 19% to the end of August 2014, compared to 12% for the market. This growth is supported by a rapidly expanding network of 470 dealers, which came first for service quality in the JD Power 2014 survey. The success of the products, such as C-Elysée and C4 L, demonstrates that CITROËN has been able to win recognition by offering models that are tailored, modern and able to meet the expectations of these new customers.

It is on these solid foundations that CITROËN has unveiled the C3-XR, its new model to be launched in China at the end of the year which will extend its cover of this market. This new offering embodies a resolutely modern approach to the SUV, based on CITROËN’s values: strong design, remarkable comfort inherited from CITROËN’s know-how and technology choices aimed at the well-being of users. The vehicle was presented at a symbolic location, C_42 on the Champs Elysées, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Franco-Chinese diplomatic relations and emphasise the French origins of this SUV.

The C3-XR is very close to the concept car presented at Beijing in April 2014 and is a pure product of the CITROËN centre of style, which applied all of its know-how and creativity in the conception of this SUV. Its immediately identifiable design projects robustness, elegance and dynamism. As one of CITROËN’s distinctive traits, comfort is of the highest standard, thanks to benchmark levels of interior space, a roomy and welcoming driving position, and ride comfort worthy of the best saloons. The CITROËN C3-XR also benefits from the latest innovations, making for easier use through its technological equipment – keyless entry and start, reversing camera, grip control – and its connectivity via the Citroën telematic services.

On sale in December, C3-XR will be produced at Wuhan and will be available from launch with the THP 160 S&S engine coupled with the latest generation EAT6 automatic gearbox.

C3-XR will be on show at C_42 on the Champs Elysées.