dongfeng-psa

PSA Peugeot Citroen and China's Dongfeng Group (DFG) held an event yesterday in Shanghai to mark the first anniversary of their strategic partnership signed in March 2014. The event was attended by PSA chairman Carlos Tavares and DFG chairman Xu Ping.

At the event, the two bosses announced a project to jointly develop a global platform for the manufacture of B and C segment vehicles under Peugeot, Citroen, DS and Dongfeng brands. The new Common Modular Platform (CMP) is expected to provide effective solutions in terms of modularity, versatility, equipment and carbon reduction.

CMP will enable PSA and DFG to manufacture vehicles in their respective growth regions with reduced cost. In China and our ASEAN region, the French group will benefit in particular from DFG's supplier base expertise, which will make it possible to meet ambitious cost targets in highly competitive segments.

The new Dongfeng Fengshen L60 is a reworked Peugeot 408 for the Chinese market

The project calls for capital expenditure of €200 million (RM782 million), of which 60% will be committed by PSA and 40% by DFG. A liaison team of DFG engineers will be located in Vélizy, France, within the main project team. A joint R&D centre based in Shanghai that dedicated to developing products and tech for fast-growing Asian markets will also be set up.

"The first partnership year was very eventful, with DFG's acquisition of an interest in PSA, the creation of new sales joint ventures for China and ASEAN countries, and DPCA's launch of the new-generation Fengshen vehicles," Tavares said.

"With the CMP on stream from 2019, and with the joint R&D centre, the two groups will put strategic resources in place to accelerate their international expansion, particularly in China and ASEAN, where the goal is to sell 1.5 million vehicles by 2020," he added.

Interestingly, Dongfeng is also the Chinese partner for PSA's French rival Renault, and the JV will built Renault's latest Kadjar C-segment SUV. One leg standing on two boats, as the Chinese say.