Following the market success of the SUV offensive led by its five brands, Groupe PSA is increasing its SUV production capacity in Europe to meet demand. Implemenetation of these expansion products will ensure high capacity utilization in each plant in the coming years, the company said.

The product offensive launched as part of the Push to Pass plan’s Core Model Strategy has led to the recent introduction of 11 SUV models by the Group’s five brands—Peugeot, Citroën, DS Automobiles, Opel and Vauxhall—together representing some 250,000 registrations in Europe in the first quarter of 2018. Over the same period, the Group’s share of the European SUV market has risen sharply, to 16.9% beginning of 2018.

As of end-March, the Group was among segment leaders and the offensive was being pursued, with the upcoming roll-out of the Citroën C5 Aircross in September in Europe.

Accordingly, the Group has decided to increase its production capacity in Europe, using all its available resources and assets:

• Citroën C5 Aircross starts its production in Rennes (France), along with the Peugeot 5008.

• As soon as the production in Rennes reaches its full capacity, the Peugeot 5008 will be added to the Peugeot 3008 and the Opel Grandland X line in Sochaux, France, from March 2019.

• As soon as the production in Sochaux plant reaches its full capacity, the Opel Grandland X will be progressively assembled in Eisenach, Germany as from mid-2019.

These production allocations, which were made possible by the performance plans, will be carried out in accordance with the undertakings in the New Momentum for Growth agreement, signed in July 2016 by five out of six French trade unions, and will maintain production in France at one million vehicles. The new allocations also reflect the agreements negotiated with employee representatives in Germany as part of the Opel/Vauxhall performance plan.

This European expansion scheme completes the worldwide and multi-site strategy of SUV production in the Group, enabled by the platform modularity:

• Peugeot 2008, production in Mulhouse (France), Porto Real (Brazil), Wuhan (China);

• Peugeot 3008, production in Sochaux (France), Chulai (Vietnam), Gurun (Malaysia) et Walvis Bay (Namibia);

• Peugeot 4008, production in Chengdu (China);

• Peugeot 5008, production in Rennes and Sochaux (France), Chulai (Vietnam) and Chengdu (China);

• C3 Aircross production in Zaragoza (Spain);

• C4 Aircross, production in Wuhan (China);

• C5 Aircross, production in Rennes (France) and Chengdu (China);

• DS 7 Crossback, production in Mulhouse (France) and Shenzhen (China);

• Opel/Vauxhall Grandland X, production in Sochaux (France), then Eisenach (Germany) and Walvis Bay (Namibia);

• Opel/Vauxhall Crossland X, production in Zaragoza (Spain); and

• Opel/Vauxhall Mokka X, production in Zaragoza (Spain), in Bupyeong (Korea)