Citroen plans to step in the Indian auto market again

Citroen, the French automaker which is the part of PSA Peugeot Citroen group, is ready to step into the Indian auto market in December. It is being speculated that the company will make a  ticket investment announcement that will be coinciding with the tour of French President, Mr Nicolas Sarkozy. This tour is due for the next month. Citroen will be arriving in the country after a duration of more than a decade. One of the top  government officials commented that Citroen is in talks with the Andhra Pradesh Government for the purpose of a greenfield plant. The official said that the investment is expected to be about Rs 3,000-3,500 crore and it will be announced at the time of the visit of the French President which is due in next month.

As per the reports, Citroen had even done the evaluation of sites in Maharasthtra and Tamil Nadu. In the state of Andhra Pradesh, the company was offered a site of 1,000-acres which was also offered to the auto major Tata Motors for the Tata Nano project. Earlier it was believed that the French auto major was in talks with other companies for the strategic partnerships so that it could make its entry into the Indian auto market. When Citroen officials were contacted, they did not confirm this information of “strategic partnership”. Also they did not deny the information and said that they were making various investigations and analysis in the Indian auto market but they were not in the position to provide any details until the company makes some sort of announcement.

During a teleconference, Mr Daniel Zamparini, Chief Information Officer, PSA Peugeot Citroen, confirmed the plans of the company for the Indian auto market. He also said that the information for the same will be disclosed in the coming few weeks. Citrogen was formed in the year 1919. It merged with Peugeot in about 1976. The company has also got its history in India. During the year, 1993-94, PSA Peugeot Citroen tied up with Premier Automobiles. This tie-up was done for assembling various models for the market of India.

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