Russia: PSA Peugeot Citroen and Mitsubishi reveal more details of €470m Kaluga plant
By: Glenn Brooks, Tuesday, June 10, 2008, AutomotiveWorld.com
Following the recent announcement that the two OEMs are to construct a vehicle plant in Kaluga, officials from Mitsubishi Motors (MMC) and PSA Peugeot Citroen have laid the foundation stone at the site, some 180km southwest of Moscow.
Representing PSA was Roland Vardanega, a member of the managing board and the executive vice president of Manufacturing and Components, while MMC's president, Osamu Masuko, was also in attendance, along with the region's governor, Anatoli Artamonov, and several hundred guests.
The joint venture is to be 70% owned by PSA and 30% by MMC with initial combined investment stated as €470m (US$730m). Some 3,000 people will work at the plant, the OEMs say.
The first vehicles are due in 2011 and will be lower medium (C segment) Peugeot and Citroen models (presumed to be the Peugeot 308 and next Citroen C4 or derivatives), as well as an SUV for all three brands. All vehicles will be for the local market, the partners state.
The annual production capacity of the plant will be 160,000 units via a three shift system, of which 110,000 will be C segment vehicles and 50,000 SUVs. "Over time", PSA and MMC state, the facility's capacity "may be increased to 300,000 units to meet the expected growth of the Russian market". Activities to be carried out at Kaluga will include "stamping, ironwork, paint and assembling".
PSA's Didier Aleton, the OEM's former director of its Russia project, has been appointed managing director of the new joint venture and will oversee the operational management of the 200 hectare complex. Of the latter, some 50 hectares are to be set aside for a supplier park.
Published on Tuesday, June 10, 2008
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