The cost of producing mini-cars such as the Citroën C1 and the Peugeot 107 could be set to fall if PSA Peugeot-Citroën invites more partners to join its highly successful party with Toyota.
Peugeot-Citroën and Toyota currently build the Citroën C1, Peugeot 107 and Toyota Aygo in the same plant in Kolin in the Czech Republic, mainly for Europe. The arrangement has been going swimmingly since 2005 and production runs at around 340,000 vehicles a year.
PSA Peugeot-Citroën's chief, Carlos Tavares, described the deal with Toyota as smooth and collaborative, but said he wants to include more manufacturers to spread costs further.
Speaking at the Auto Shanghai 2015 motor show recently, he said he wanted to sustain Peugeot-Citroën's cost-sharing effort with Toyota.
‘Our intention is to continue with Toyota,’ he told a small group of reporters earlier this week on the sidelines of the Shanghai auto show that opened on Monday.
‘Now if there are other (manufacturers) who want to join, of course I would have to discuss it with my partner Toyota...but PSA's position is, yes, we're open to bringing in other partners who would like to share (costs).’
He added, ‘To make A-segment cars, it's better to have the kind of grouping of several (manufacturers) that are going to share a given investment and then make derivatives out of the common investment.
‘Nowadays, of course, business conditions are so tough that getting together to share investments and share manufacturing capacity to make sure that you can make business plans that fly makes sense for everyone. We are very pragmatic, and we're very open.’
The tie-up between Peugeot-Citroën and Toyota was further cemented in 2012 when the firms jumped into bed together again to build a new range of Toyota vans in Europe.
When Toyota knocked the Hiace on the head, it turned to Peugeot-Citroën to supply the European market with light commercial vehicles. The result was the Toyota Proace. It’s based on the Peugeot Expert and Citroën Jumpy and has been built at the Sevelnord factory in northern France since 2013. The pals’ act is expected to last beyond 2020.
Peugeot-Citroën and Dongfeng also recently announced plans to jointly develop a global platform to build B- and C-segment vehicles together. The plan will revolve around a joint Research and Development centre in Shanghai that will develop new vehicles for the emerging Asian markets.
The Citroën C1 and the Peugeot 107 are available in the south west of England at Howards Group’s 12 showrooms in Somerset and Dorset. Click here for more information.