India could be in GM-PSA Peugeot's global plans

December 20, 2012: PSA Peugeot Citroën’s India plans may have got scuttled by the sharp business slowdown in Europe, but it may be scripting a new India entry plan through its global alliance with General Motors expected to provide that opportunity. In a joint statement issued today, the partners have announced their intention for new additional global initiatives which include ‘exploration of product and industrial initiatives in Latin America or other growth markets.’ “India could be one of the growth markets,” a PSA Peugeot Citroën official told Autocar Professional.

PSA Peugeot Citroën may tap its global EB engine to drive some of the products. The EB engine range is available in 1.0-litre and 1.2-litre options, which make it suitable for markets like India. The EB is a 3-cylinder engine launched late last year. The alliance partners will co-develop a next generation of high-performance, efficient small petrol engines derived from the EB engine programme. “The next generation of the EB engine will be developed to meet the Euro 7 norms which will come into effect in a few years,” said the company official.

The immediate focus of the alliance partners will be to work on three common vehicle platforms to be shared by both Groups. They are:

1. A joint programme for a C-MPV1 for Opel/Vauxhall and a C-CUV2 for the Peugeot brand.

2. A joint MPV3 programme for the B-segment for both Groups.

3. Co-development of an upgraded low CO2 B-segment platform to feed Opel/Vauxhall and PSA’s next generation of cars in Europe and other regions.

The first vehicles resulting from this cooperation are expected to be launched in 2016.

Photograph: Launch of the EB module, a new family of 3-cylinder petrol engines, at PSA-Peugeot’s Trémery site, with Philippe Varin, chairman of the managing Board of PSA Peugeot Citroën on December 1, 2011.