PSA Group to Develop New Low-Cost Vehicle

As the crisis takes its toll on the auto industry with thuggish force, makers are steadily pushed against a spiked wall with sharpen poles bristling with the imminence of collapse. This is how a report on the current situation would sound like if it were written by a wide-bosomed writer. However, times like these don't call for descriptive accuracy but rather for viable solutions.

The cool-headed blokes at PSA have caught a head start on other car-makers, taking a laid-back approach on the matter. The result? Company CEO Christian Streiff has recently announced that the group is currently developing a new low-cost product that will most likely be produced and sold in emerging markets, such as Russia and Romania, as of 2011.

PSA, who will sell the vehicle under the Peugeot and Citroen brand names, will be competing against fellow maker Renault who has registered ridiculously high sales with their low-cost Logan model. The car was hugely successful in the aforementioned markets, having sold in 367,000 units last year only. Current sales plans aim at reaching a 750,000 units threshold for 2008, twice as much as last year's.

Back to Peugeout/Citroen, the group hasn't yet decided on the sites where the new car will be built although officials are currently scouting for possible spots in Turkey and Poland. Opposite to the Renault strategy, the PSA vehicle will not be sold in Western Europe as it will be specifically tailored to meet the demands of Eastern and Central European ones.

So far, the list of countries that will see the release of the new car includes states like Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and also northern Africa. China and South America haven't been excluded either as the group has joint ventures in those areas with some of the local manufacturers.

As for the specs of the car, nothing has been revealed yet although there's a high chance the car will be built on the modified platform of an already existing model. Juice will initially come from a currently used engine with plans of fitting the car with a new 3-cylinder 1.0 L power unit starting with 2011.