While PSA Peugeot Citroën was announcing that the one-millionth vehicle has rolled off the assembly line at its Palomar plant in Argentina, the one owned by the very same Group in Porto Real, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was producing its one-millionth engine.
These figures confirm PSA Peugeot Citroën’s dynamic growth in Latin America, where unit sales rose by 27% in 2010 and market coverage exceeded 50%. The Group made further strong gains in the region in the first three months of 2011, with market share widening to 6% from 5.3% a year earlier.
In this way, PSA Peugeot Citroën is reaping the first benefits of the €700 million (R6.9 billion) development plan announced in 2010, which is committing €530 million (R5.2 billion) to operations in Brazil and €170 million (R1.7 billion) to Argentina. This plan is designed to reach break-even at the recurring operating income level this year and to drive an increase in market share to 7% in 2015.
A new purchasing strategy and a reduction in the number of platforms will generate major economies of scale by tripling the production of each model. The Porto Real plant in Brazil is dedicated to compacts and motors, while the Palomar facility in Argentina is specialised in mid-sized models.
2010 therefore marked the beginning of a new sales dynamic in Latin America, with the launch of the Peugeot Hoggar pick-up, the Peugeot 408 and the Citroën C3 Aircross.
This dynamic will gain further momentum over the next four years with the launch of 8 new vehicles increasingly well aligned with Argentinian car buyer expectations.
Aircross looks like but why not in SA?
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