CEO puts Brazil in the heart of the ambition and investment of Peugeot-Citroën

After 20 years of operation of the first factory of the French group Peugeot-Citroen (PSA) in Brazil, the company is poised to achieve a new level in the Brazilian market. In Puerto Real, in Rio de Janeiro, the company will produce, in addition to hatch, the sport utility 2008 208. The two models share the same platform of the new C3. The 208 hacth, incidentally, should be the most fitting car as early as 2014.
"There are accurate one year this model was released in Europe and this coincidence is a symbol of the internationalization strategy of the Group's brands. To give you an idea, our plan to have 50% of our sales outside Europe in 2015 is already close to being completed. Last year, 38% of businesses were targeted outside the continent, a jump compared with 2009, when 24%, "said the President of PSA, Phillippe Varin. According to him, Brazil is one of the countries are essential for the success of this strategy. "So, in our partnership with General Motors (GM) we will prioritize the studies of a new model for Latin America. The Brazil is at the center of investments and ambitions of our group, "said the Executive.
The partnership plans include minivans, SUVs and the subcompactos. And group efforts in the country should bear fruit this year. The 208 is proof of this. The company has spent more than half of the planned investment for the country. Injections of R $ 3.7 billion should be used between 2010 to 2015. Only with the 208, R $ 800 million were applied. "It's a model that does not replace the 207. This vehicle will be a complement to our line. We believe in the success of the car, so much so that only this year have the programming to produce 55 thousand units of the model of nine Assembly in this factory, "said the President of the PSA group for Latin America, Carlos Gomes.
According to him, to start producing the 208 in Brazil-this is the second plant in the world that received the template-it was necessary to import domaquinário (tooling) specific to the model. The unit also received new laser welding areas and 83 more robots in the side. "Today, we produce 32 vehicles per hour and by the end of this year we will reach the 40 cars/hour. We are ready for that next level that we intend to achieve in the Brazilian market, "said the Executive.
The Group's strategy for the country also provides importing models from Argentina. According to Garcia, the company has studied the production of sedan factory 301 near Buenos Aires. "At the end of the year comes the machinery for the 2008 Assembly in Brazil and with that we can't replace existing models in the country for the entry into production of 311. The Argentina is an alternative to the group, "said the Gao. Last year, the company saw its sales plummet 16% and in Puerto Real 100 thousand units were produced. "we went through a period of 2012 transition. We had a stop above the factory depending on the capacity. It hurt us in the Brazilian market. But in Latin America had won in our sales, "said the Executive.
This year, Garcia believes that the two brands of the Group may increase its sales in the country between 10% to 15%. The production is expected to reach about 150 thousand. "We've had an improvement in orders already in the beginning of the year, so the optimism over sales growth. Another proof that we are confident are the investments made by our network of dealers who, in addition to land in stores increase, will apply resources in staff qualification and reform of some houses, "said Garcia. Only Peugeot should close this year with retailers in the country 181, 10 more than in 2012.