Peugeot and Citroën become one
Peugeot South Africa and Citroën South Africa, which have operated independently since the return of Citroën to SA in 2010, have now been linked to form Peugeot Citroën SA (PCSA). By merging the company aims to strengthen and streamline the French automotive brands locally for continued growth.
The company aims to see a return to profitability and it plans to streamline the group’s model line-up to 26 models by 2020. New investors are being attracted to the brands to establish dealerships,
Francis Harnie, PCSA’s managing director, says Peugeot will continue to build on its programme to change the perception of French cars in the eyes of South African motorists and he says a great deal of progress has been made in recent times with the introduction of the Premium Plan for maintenance, Mobility Plan for providing loan cars if parts are not available and Peugeot Bid to provide guaranteed higher trade-in values.
There will definitely be a steady stream of new models for both the Peugeot and Citroën dealers in the next few years, although most of the PCSA commercial vehicle focus will be from the Peugeot dealers. Peugeot has just launched the 2008 Crossover, while Citroën will introduce its C4 Picasso MPV in June. The Peugeot 308, which has just been voted Europe’s Car of the Year for 2014, will arrive here in the beginning of 2015, with the Citroën Cactus crossover being introduced locally in March/April 2015.