The automotive industry in India is the fifth-largest in the world and India is a big, big market for motorcycles and cars. Hence, over the years we have seen many global brands making their foray into the Indian automotive market and do well, while global automakers had to pack up and leave this market. Either way, Global brands now acknowledge India has a budding market and the latest to mark its entry into the same seems the French biggie, Groupe PSA.
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Groupe PSA is a french group of Automobiles which consists of Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Opel and Vauxhall brands. It is legally known as Peugeot S.A, maybe because of the fact that Peugeot is the largest brand under Groupe PSA.
Groupe PSA is all set to announce its entry in India next year, by what seems the Citroen Aircross would be its launch in India. But, recently a Peugeot hatchback was spotted testing on Indian roads indicating that Peugeot might follow Citroen’s suit in India. The Citroen Aircross which will mark PSA’s entry in India is a Compact crossover SUV which upon launch will compete with the established competitors in its segment. Peugeot, on the other hand, was spotted testing its 208 hatchback which, if launched, will go against the likes of the Hyundai i20, the Tata Altroz and Maruti Suzuki Swift.
But, it’s still unclear as of now whether or not Peugeot actually plans to launch 208 in India next year or is it just testing out its product in Indian conditions to gather valuable intel and use it further to better tune its strategy to suit our conditions. The Peugeot 208 which was spotted testing India is a previous generation model of the same, and not the latest gen that went on sale recently across global markets.
Upon launch though, it seems that both Citroen and Peugeot products will be sold via the same dealerships because it doesn’t make much sense logically and financially to bring in separate dealerships especially when marking their entry, without a local partnership. Talking about the Peugeot 208, Malaysia-spec is powered by a 1.2L, turbo petrol engine that makes 112PS and 205Nm of peak power and peak torque outputs respectively. While a GTI version of the same draws power from a 1.6L, turbo petrol engine which delivers an impressive 208PS and 300Nm of peak power and torque respectively.
Groupe PSA upon its launch and testing will reportedly have a slew of products lined up for the future.
Picture credits: Instagram handle: @Eapmagindia