PSA looking to develop India specific affordable cars as it may follow Renault’s strategy in order to target Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai
French automobile group PSA is betting big on Indian market. After two failed attempt to impress the Indian buyers, the group is now planning to make India specific cars at Indian cost. The company is following the steps of another French automaker Renault to make its re-entry successful. The company is targeting the two most success car makers of the domestic market, Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai.
PSA recently purchased the Ambassador brand. It is not sure, if the iconic brand will be revived, but we can always hope for the best considering the popularity of Ambassador. Meanwhile, PSA is not very keen to launch cars in the entry level segment, which is the biggest in terms of unit sales in the domestic market. Instead, PSA plans to roll out several smart cars, and the first of them is expected to hit the showrooms in 2020.
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The French automobile group is considering a SUV inspired hatchback, which will be positioned in the premium segment and compete against the Maruti Suzuki Swift, Hyundai Elite i20. Apart from that, other products will include a compact SUV and a midsize sedan as well. Popularity and demand of compact SUV in the domestic market is well known and the PSA compact SUV will throw challenge to the Renault Duster and Hyundai Creta.
In the midsize sedan segment, the PSA vehicle will challenge the strong and established rivals like Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, Hyundai Verna, Honda City etc. The French group has already tied up with Tata Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services for engineering development and support for these cars.
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While these three models will be focusing the local market with affordable pricing, the global markets like ASEAN countries, Latin America, Iran is also in target. Therefore we may see PSA producing these cars locally in CK Birla Group’s Chennai plant for both the domestic and export market.
Source: ET