PSA Peugeot Citroen and Mitsubishi Motors have begun full scale production of new Peugeot 408 sedan at PSMA Rus, the assembly plant in Kaluga, Russia.
PSA Peugeot Citroen Supervisory Board chairman Thierry Peugeot said the launch of full production capacities at PCMA Rus will allow the company to increase significantly the production volume on the Russian market and strengthen the positions of its brands.
"It reinforces PSA Peugeot Citroen's globalization strategy," Peugeot said.
In addition to Peugeot 408, the Kaluga facility will also manufacture Mitsubishi's new Outlander SUV from November 2012 which will be further extended to produce Citroen cars.
Since its beginning of operations in 2010, the EUR550m Kaluga facility has been assembling five vehicles which include the Peugeot 308, the Peugeot 4007, the Citroen C4, the Citroen C-Crosser and the Mitsubishi Outlander.
PCMA Rus managing director Didier Aleton said at the plant's full capacity it will allow the company to produce 125,000 vehicles per year.
"The production capacity of the Peugeot and Citroen C-segment cars will amount to 85,000, and the remaining 40,000 will be for Mitsubishi SUVs," Aleton added.
During the production process, all the assembled products will be equipped with Russian components comprising stamped parts, bumpers, wheels and tires, seats and dash-boards among many others.
PSA Peugeot Citroen sales in Russia grew 35% in 2011, and it reported 25% rise during the first quarter of 2012, while Mitsubishi reported 63% rise in sales in Russia in 2011.
Kaluga region governor Anatoly Artamonov said, "Operation of PCMA Rus favours to multisided development of our region and, moreover, provides the economy of the region with contemporary job posts."
