Romania on Peugeot's list for an engine plant

Jean-Philippe Collin, chairman of the Peugeot group, which accounts for 4% of the domestic market and ranks among the top ten car importers, told ZF that Romania is on the list of the company’s locations for the construction of an engine plant. “At present, we’re considering boosting production capacities in Europe and we’re thinking of building a new engine plant in Eastern Europe, and Romania is on the list. We’re not ruling out any Eastern European country for the construction of the plant,” said Collin. The international press wrote about Peugeot’s intention to create an engine plant in Romania in April, but this is the first time a Peugeot official confirms that the Romanian market is present on the list the group is analysing. Collin did not specify the value of investments, but previous information pointed to a 600m-euro budget earmarked for the construction of two plants, in France and Eastern Europe. Peugeot’s European sales in the first eight months dropped by 5.3%, to a volume of 724,812 units, according to the statistical data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), given that the car market fell by almost 4%, to 10.4 million units. In Romania, Peugeot saw its sales go down by almost 20%, to a volume of 7,891 units.