Peugeot Citroën and Mitsubishi Begin Production at Jointly Owned Russian Plant

LONDON - April 26, 2010: Philippe Varin, Chairman of the Managing Board of PSA Peugeot Citroën, and Takashi Nishioka, Chairman of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, have officially started vehicle production at PCMA Rus, their joint plant in Russia. The plant, which is owned 70% by PSA Peugeot Citroën and 30% by Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, is located at Kaluga, 180km South-West of Moscow.

The ceremony took place in the presence of Mr. Georgi Poltavchenko, Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Central Federal District, and Mr. Anatoly Artamonov, Governor of the Region of Kaluga.

This plant, which represents a joint initial investment of €470 million, will enable PSA Peugeot Citroën and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation to become major players in the Russian automotive market, whose growth potential is significant.

From April 2010 the Kaluga plant will produce the Peugeot 308, followed by the Citroën C4 and the Citroën C-Crosser, Peugeot 4007 and Mitsubishi Outlander SUV models. These models target the mid-range segments of the Russian market.

The plant will be fully operational in 2012. From that date, the annual production capacity of the plant will be 125,000 units, split 85,000 mid-range sedan vehicles for Peugeot and Citroën and 40,000 mid-range SUVs for Peugeot, Citroën and Mitsubishi.

The PCMA Rus plant will be an extremely compact factory, with optimised workspace divided between just two buildings: one for the paint shop, and one for the body in white and assembly workshops. In order to reduce its environmental footprint, the plant will adopt the best practices from its parent companies for energy saving, reduction of CO2 emission and waste reduction (use of water based paints only, sustainable packaging for shipment).

The plant will employ about 3,000 people, from which approximately 2,600 will be trained at the local training centre built in cooperation with the Government of the Kaluga Region.

For Philippe Varin, "this opening illustrates the willingness of PSA Peugeot Citroën to establish a long term presence in Russia, as well as its confidence in the growth potential of the Russian automobile market. This new plant is a strategic asset for our development in Russia. It also embodies PSA Peugeot Citroën’s ambition to be a global player".

For his part, Takashi Nishioka declared that "Russia will continue to be a strategically significant market for Mitsubishi Motors in the years to come. We hope that this operation will be a cornerstone in our efforts to grow our Russian business in the mid- and long-term and hope that we can contribute to the development of Russia’s automobile industry."