PSA Peugeot Citroën, the French carmaker that invested in Slovakia seven years ago by building a car assembly plant in Trnava, launched production of the new Peugeot 208 model here last November. This is the third car model assembled in Trnava.
Luciano Bondi, the general director of PSA Peugeot Citroën in Trnava, explained at the launch of the Peugeot 208 that this new model was a response to the difficult crisis years of 2008-2009. The PSA group manufactures the Peugeot 208 model in two French plants as well as in Trnava and plans to assemble about 550,000 cars of this model each year.
The Peugeot 208 was introduced at the Geneva car show in early March and will gradually replace the Peugeot 207.
The Hospodárske Noviny daily reported in mid March that the Peugeot 208 drew significant attention in Geneva with the daily describing it as a well-executed model for its exterior design as well as its technological features.
The 208 model is a more compact city car featuring smaller exterior dimensions and greater interior volume than the Peugeot 207, and is 110 kilograms lighter. The Peugeot 208 also has significantly-reduced CO2 emissions and none of its available engines releases more than an average of 99 grams of CO2 per kilometre travelled, according to the daily.
The company’s plant in Trnava is the most technologically modern facility within the PSA Peugeot Citroën group. It was the third major car manufacturer to come to Slovakia, following German-based Volkswagen and Korean-based Kia Motors. The initial investment by PSA Peugeot Citroën in Slovakia amounted to €700 million and the launch of the new model brought additional investment. Serial production of the Peugeot 207 was launched in June 2006 and the Citroën C3 Picasso, manufactured exclusively in Slovakia, started production in the first quarter of 2009.
The Trnava plant produced its millionth car last November and its annual production in 2011 hit nearly 205,000 cars.
The company’s plan, announced last April, for production of the Peugeot 208 involved an additional investment of €120 million and the hiring of almost 900 new employees. The company also announced it would start a third shift and gradually increase production to 300,000 cars per year, the maximum capacity of the plant.
