French car manufacturer, Peugeot gave a shock to their fans in India last night, when they announced that they are going to shut down their office in Mumbai. Now according AutoCarIndia the Peugeot spokesperson said the company is not shutting down its India office, but “switching it (from Mumbai) to Ahmedabad as a consequence of its agreement with the Gujarat government.” It is also learnt that the Ahmedabad office is scheduled to be inaugurated today.
The company want to review their proposed plans for Indian auto industry. Peugeot was planning on re-entering in the Indian auto industry after a gap of 10 years. They had even selected the place where they were going to setup their manufacturing unit in India.
Peugeot had proposed to invest $1 billion in Indian auto industry and set up a plant in Sanand, Gujarat from which they would churn out 170,000 cars annually. Peugeot India had also stated that they will launch their first car in India by 2014. But all those proposed plans seem to be futile as of today.
Mr Jonathan Goodman, Press Relations, Director, PSA Peugeot Citroen, said, “The group is currently evaluating the scheduling of the project, which may lead to some adjustments to the schedule as it currently stands. The company is re-engineering the project so that every penny put into the project brings value.”
Back in 2011, when Peugeot decided to re-enter Indian auto market, they were planning to enter along with a partner. But they failed to find a worthy partner and decided to enter India on their own. Today, the situation is different. Peugeot is once again on the lookout for a partner to start India operations. Peugeot is currently in talks with Mr Siddharth Lal, MD, Eicher Motors and Mr Pawan Ruia, Owner, Dunlop India, about a possible partnership.
Peugeot was in the news for all the right reasons over the past one year. They were seen testing their cars in India, construction of their plant was supposed to begin on time, they even had a decent pavilion at the Delhi Auto Expo. But all of a sudden, we are not sure if Peugeot will be able to fulfill their proposed plans for India. As of now, it seems like they are heading home.
Also see – Peugeot performs ground breaking for Sanand automotive plant
2012 Auto Expo – Peugeot displays its 508, 3008 Hatch, Hybrid & RCZ
