According to Chinese reports the C-Quattre has been given another name change for 2012, the new name will be ‘New C-Quattre’. Actual changes to the car are few, a more defined grill, LED lights and an updated interior have been introduced. Whilst Europe gets to grips with a next generation of C4, it seems China will have to make do with a facelift for a few more years, but with last years C-Quattre sales reaching 120,000 units it’s unlikely that Dongfeng-Citroen will be in a rush to change a winning recipe. The new C-Quattre will likely launch in March 2012.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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It’s not expensive either, the base 2.0L model comes in at just over 177,000rmb for the manual version, but if you bump it up to 190,00rmb you can get the 4 speed automatic. Now its this 4 speed auto that’s putting off consumers, with luxury marques like BMW, Land Rover and Audi all moving over to 8 speed boxes, the humble 6 or even 5 speed should be able to trickle down the technology pole. The 4 speed automatic gearbox really hasn’t been relevant since Moses parted the Red Sea and took the Israelites home, Chinese consumers look upon the 4speed box with a look of distain, the same tech has held the Subaru Forester back and also the Toyota RAV4 whilst rivals move onto CVT and six speed units. But fear not – Citroen have learned the error of their ways and will be using the six speed gearbox from the mid range 2.3L Citroen C5 on the 2.0L, pricing is expected to change but at least consumers wont be getting short changed in the technology department.

Of course pictures of a 2012 Citroen C5 have already been leaked to the internet ahead of its showing off at the Guangzhou Auto Show the week after next. Obvious changes include the addition of new wheels, some chrome bits and a minor tip and tuck at the front.

FrankF

Frank entered the automotive industry via his father's instructions. He grew up with cars around him, especially as his father was a major auto restorer, Frank's childhood was spent passing beers, tools and coffee to his father whilst he explained the ins and outs of engines. Frank now works in the Chinese car industry at a specific manufacturer.

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Although the Euro version of the C4 has been updated for 2011/12 it seems the Chinese version is not getting the same treatment just yet, instead the C4 saloon shown before has been given a new bulbous grill that resembles a cartoon monster. Under the hood, 1.6L and 2.0L engines are being made available paired to 5 speed manuals and 4 speed automatic gearboxes. The C4 was priced quite reasonably in China at just over 100,000rmb and rising to 140,000rmb for the top model, how pricing will change for 2012 is still unknown.

We can expect to see this model at the Guangzhou Auto Show later this month.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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The latest model, the 508, was first unveiled earlier this year at the Shanghai Auto Show and had its official launch in Hangzhou over the weekend, the 508 is competitively priced with it starting at just 160,000rmb for the 2.0L model and rising to just under 230,000rmb for the top of the range 2.4L model.

The 508 is very well priced when compared with its competitors, the 508 will see competition from its cousin the C5, the Ford Mondeo, the Buick Regal, and various higher end Chinese models.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Currently Peugeot offers the 207, 307, 408 and now 508 models in China, but over the next coming months the updated 308 version is likely to make a splash. The 308 appears to have a slightly updated front grill which puts it more in line with the 408 – which coincidentally, is just a stretched 307, and also the 508. The same engine range will be carried over from the 307, which means a 2.0L and a 1.6L, but PSA are also working on introducing their small displacement turbo engines into China in the next few months which makes a 1.6T

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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2011
This year will focus on PSA introducing new models into China, they’ve already shown their Citroen C5 and will soon show the new Citroen C4 (with its name changed to something less auspicious for the Chinese market due to 4′s deathly overtones) and also the new Peugeot 508 and SCX Concept SUV. On the technology front Citroen will introduce its STT technology, aka a stop start system that will be able to reduce fuel consumption by power to the engine when the accelerator is not pressed – usually at traffic lights and junctions. Citroen claims their system allows for fuel savings of up to 15%, PSA are planning to promote this technology to cab drivers and taxi fleets around China.

2012
PSA are planning to launch the EC series of engines into China with local production start in September 2012 in their new XianYang factory. The current TU engines that PSA use in China will be updated to VVT, the new engines will be the EC5 and EC8, the EC5 is a 1.6L engine, whilst the EC8 is a 1.8L model.

2013
PSA’s EP series of engines will be introduced in 2013, these engines were developed in cooperation with BMW and feature direct injection, in 2013 the engines will go into production in China with an initial annual capacity of 100,000 units. The 1.6L engine, codenamed EP6FDTM will produce 120KW and 240NM of torque, the 1.8L direct injection model is codenamed EP8FDTM and will have 147KW of power and 280Nm of torque. At the same time PSA will introduce a plugin electric hybrid model.

2014
Three cylinders for China. PSA are planning to launch their 1.2L three cylinder naturally aspirated and turbo charged engine into China at the same as other world markets. This engine has been codenamed EB2DT and EC2DTS, both of which will be produced in China.

2015
PSA’s Xiangfan City factory in Hubei province will have two additional factories attached to it, the rate of engine production will reach 1.2 million units and 540,000 gearbox capacity, a locally made plug in electric vehicle will also go into production in China.

PSA’s sales in China have picked up in recent years due to the addition of extra models to boost their line up, PSA’s reaction to the Chinese market has been odd. They initially entered very early with the Citroen ZX and Peugeot 504 sedans and gained a strong early momentum, but PSA continued to focus on the EU market and lost the early sales lead it gained, PSA have returned to the Chinese market with renewed vigor and are expected to improve their market share fairly quickly.

FrankF

Frank entered the automotive industry via his father's instructions. He grew up with cars around him, especially as his father was a major auto restorer, Frank's childhood was spent passing beers, tools and coffee to his father whilst he explained the ins and outs of engines. Frank now works in the Chinese car industry at a specific manufacturer.

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Engines for the 508 are expected to be a 2.0L and a 2.3L, the range topping 3.0L V6 is expected to be a Citroen C5 only offering, pricing for the 508 has not yet been announced but it could well be as low as 160,000rmb to fight with the Ford Mondeo that was recently launched in a similar pricing area.

FrankF

Frank entered the automotive industry via his father's instructions. He grew up with cars around him, especially as his father was a major auto restorer, Frank's childhood was spent passing beers, tools and coffee to his father whilst he explained the ins and outs of engines. Frank now works in the Chinese car industry at a specific manufacturer.

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According to our sources, the concept SUV was designed by Citroen’s new R&D center in China with Chinese designers being responsible for the entire concept. PSA have worked hard in the past few years on training their Chinese design staff on international design technique and it appears to be showing signs of success. Further information on the concept is thin on the ground, but this is something that we will keep you updated with over the next few days.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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The Chinese media are getting quite excited by the prospect of the Chinese built C4 being home to the 1.6T engine that is offered in the C4 VTS which is currently imported into China (at a high premium) but with other rivals such as Chevrolet and Nissan introducing or already offering small displacement turbo engines, it could be that Citroen will have to show their turbo cards as well.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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The Peugeot 508 sedan is set to launch in China and has entered the government approved list of cars prior to production, engine power is set to be the same as the Dongfeng-Citroen C5 with its 2.0L and 2.3L four cylinder engines, although a V6 wont be made available to the 508. The 508 will be on show in Shanghai Auto Show and will most likely hit the market in the summer months.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Dongfeng-PSA are reporting a sales increase of 38.3% for the combined sales of Peugeot and Citroen vehicles in the Chinese market bringing total sales to 373,000 units sold in 2010.Including imported sales PSA reached a total of 375,000 units sold in China. Citroen was the stronger of the two with 224,001 vehicles sold and Peugeot selling 149,365 units. Combined sales revenue at Citroen and Peugeot China reached 37 billion RMB.

Citroen appear to be the stronger of the two due to their aggressive line up which has seen the introduction of the new C4 and also the C4 sedan variant and also the C5 sedan which is winning sales against other large sedans such as the Buick Lacrosse.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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From Bloomberg Business Week:

The venture will produce passenger cars as well as light trucks, allowing Peugeot to enter the fast-growing Chinese market for delivery vehicles, another person said.

PSA Peugeot Citroen, France’s largest carmaker, is close to announcing a venture with China Changan Group Co., Chief Executive Officer Philippe Varin said in an interview.

“We’re in advanced discussions, and we’ll announce something as soon as we can,” Varin said yesterday at an industry event in Paris, when asked whether Peugeot had reached an agreement on a partnership with Beijing-based Changan.

Peugeot and Changan agreed on the outlines of a plan for joint vehicle production in China, according to three people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the talks are confidential. An announcement may be made as early as today, they said. China Changan is the parent of Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., Ford Motor Co.’s partner in China, which overtook the U.S. as the world’s largest auto market last year.

Under the agreement, Peugeot and Changan will each own 50 percent of the venture, which will use a factory in Shenzhen owned by Harbin Hafei Automobile Industry Group Co., the carmaker that merged with Changan last year, according to one of the people.

The venture will produce passenger cars as well as light trucks, allowing Peugeot to enter the fast-growing Chinese market for delivery vehicles, another person said.

Dongfeng Motor Venture

Peugeot already assembles models including the 308, 408 and Citroen C5 mid-sized car in a Chinese partnership with Dongfeng Motor Group Co. CEO Varin is focusing the Paris-based company’s overseas expansion efforts on China, where the law allows foreign carmakers to have two local partners.

The French carmaker’s Chinese operations are dwarfed by market leaders General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG, which have 16 percent and 12 percent of industry wide sales respectively.

“Peugeot has good momentum in China but they’re relative latecomers,” said Arndt Ellinghorst, a London-based analyst at Credit Suisse. Auto-market growth may begin to level off as the Chinese government trims stimulus measures amid fears of economic overheating, he said.

“The market’s getting crowded, and brands like Peugeot may not have the infrastructure and the brand heritage to withstand a price war when it slows down,” Ellinghorst said.

Third Factory

Peugeot is also planning a third factory with Dongfeng as their two plants in Wuhan, eastern China, approach their limits, Varin said. The two plants’ combined production will be at least 350,000 vehicles this year, out of an annual capacity of 450,000, he said.

Peugeot dropped 58 cents, or 2.8 percent, to 20.45 euros in Paris trading yesterday. The stock has declined 14 percent this year, the worst performance on the Bloomberg Europe Autos Index, which gained 5.4 percent. Changan Automobile rose 0.5 percent to 11.29 yuan at mid-day trading break in Shenzhen.

At yesterday’s event, Varin also said that Peugeot is offering to pay off one-third of its 3 billion-euro ($3.9 billion) government loan this year. The move would require a waiver of terms preventing any repayment before 2011.

Smaller domestic rival Renault SA, which received a loan of the same size early in 2009, favors a coordinated early repayment with Peugeot, CEO Carlos Ghosn said on May

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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PSA found itself in a three way battle between Chang’an, Volvo, and Geely. With Geely taking over Volvo, and somehow managing to carry on the Volvo-Chang’an JV, as well as building its own Volvo cars in a new Beijing plant.

Chang’an have also found major success with their own car brand, which they are putting through a ‘brand upgrade’ in 2010, which will see them produce some mid to high level sedans for the Chinese market, as well as raising the profile of their own Chang’an brand cars across China. Chang’an might see another JV partner as just another distraction in the path to becoming a global car maker of their own.

Chang’an have invested heavily into their own brand and have further investment of 1.19 billion RMB planned for an auto test area, motorbike test area and new research centers in China. Chang’an are also investing heavily into Changhe and Hafei automobiles which they recently bought into as part of the AVIC takeover.

PSA will no doubt be forced to find another JV partner in China if further talks with Chang’an end without result again. PSA are eager to further their line up in China after a successful 2009 in China, their rival Renault, is also without a partner in China after extensive talks with Dongfeng broke down again.

The Chinese market for new joint ventures might have dried up, with the market slowly moving towards consolidation rather than expansion, those that did not yet enter might find it even harder to enter now, or even expand.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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The 3008 was recently spotted out testing in China, and is expected to make a launch at the Beijing Auto Show later this year

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Reuters:

PARIS/BEIJING, Jan 25 (Reuters) – French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen (PEUP.PA) wants to grow 30 percent in China this year, with a long-term goal of obtaining an 8 percent share of its booming market by 2016, a senior executive said on Monday.

Several 408 sedans rolled into a cavernous Beijing showroom on Monday for a gala launch ceremony dominated by young Chinese, the brand’s target buyers in the world’s top auto market.

Western carmakers, battered by a deep industry crisis, are relying on emerging markets such as China for growth this year, while European markets are expected to suffer as scrapping incentives wane.

Peugeot plans to launch one new model a year following the release of the 408 model.

“Next year it’s a car that’s also a sedan and afterwards again a sedan, because the Chinese market is above all sedans,” Jean-Marc Gales, head of the Peugeot and Citroen brands, told Reuters in an interview.

The 408, which will be available from April and built in Wuhan, China, will allow “significant growth” for the brand, he said. The company is targeting a volume of 100,000 cars a year.

The French vehicle maker operates a car manufacturing joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Group Co (0489.HK) in China. Gales said it was also talking to other potential Chinese partners.

“We have a very good cooperation with Dongfeng Motors and ambitious growth plans with Dongfeng,” Gales said.

China’s overall vehicle market should grow 15 percent this year, he said.

Peugeot Citroen group had achieved a China market share of 3.4 percent in 2009, Gales told journalists on a conference call.

Gales said the 408 model would appeal to a new, younger target audience, noting that in China 57 percent of buyers of cars in the same market segment as the 408 are aged between 30 and 45, compared with much higher average ages in Europe.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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This is the first mid size sedan from Peugeot since the Peugeot 504, which was built in a disastrous partnership with Guangzhou automobile at the turn of the century. The Chinese built 408 will be coming with the choice of 1.6 and 2.0L engines and also manual/automatic gearboxes. Pricing is expected to be as follows: 1.6 manual standard 121,900rmb, 2.0 manual standard 129,900rmb, 2.0T automatic standard 141,900rmb, and the 2.0T Prestige model will cost 169,999rmb.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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PSA have realized that small cars are the future, and plan to introduce more small cars into China such as the 107 and C1, and also plan to improve their sedan range, which are essentially notch back versions of the European hatch. PSA are planning to introduce China only models that are built with Chinese tastes and styles in mind, the new factory is expected to take around two years to complete with a new model probably coming around the same time.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Peugeot-Citroen, the French manufacturer of cars, has shared that it is expecting the Chinese automobile market, which recently outraced the US market to become the world’s biggest market for automobiles, to continue expanding at a very strong pace.

The firm said that it believes that compared to 2009, the market would end up expanding another 10%-20%.

Head of the Peugeot and Citroen brands, Jean-Marc Gales, said that the European market will most probably contract by a one-figure percentage point over 2010, while also sharingPeugeot- Citroen manufactured a total of 3.05 million vehicles last year, or 139,000 fewer than it sold.

“In 2010, markets are expected to show signs of recovery around the world, with the exception of Europe, which will probably experience another decline as scrappage schemes are removed or phased out with gradually declining incentives. The second half should see some glimmers of improvement, however”, the company said.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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The Peugeot 408 will be officially launched in China on January 25th 2010 according to Peugeot, its sister car, the Citroen C5 has already launched.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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The launch of the Citroen C5 sedan gives the mid size sedan segment a new contender, in a market that is traditionally controlled by the likes of the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, Chinese consumers will now be able to choose a little bit of France.

The Citroen C5 is priced between 200,000rmb and 300,000rmb, and will come with the choice of 2.0L, 2.3l and 3.0V6 engines. The Peugeot 408 is expected to be produced in China in the near future alongside its C5 cousin.

Here are some beautiful pictures of the C5 out testing in China

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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A Chinese netizen posted the following pictures to the popular Xcar.com.cn forum for automotive enthusiasts, it could be that the netizen in question is a member of the driving team that took the Chinese built Citroen C5 through its paces in South West China, but perhaps not. The Citroen C5 team were apparently on their way to the city of Shangri-la, a once fictional city from the Lost Horizons novel written by James Hilton, but has since become a real city thanks to the renaming of a Chinese county to become Shangri-la County.

Enough words, take in the pictures:

Breath taking scenery, and a fantastic looking car that looks like it is certainly being taken through its paces in the harsh geography of Western China. We hope the original poster over at Xcar.com.cn doesnt get into any trouble for posting these fantastic shots! If Dongfeng-Citroen are going on any other adventures in the next few weeks, make sure you contact CCT as well.

Pictures from xcar.com.cn

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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A Dongfeng-Citroen built C5 is set to launch next month pushing the first mid sized French sedan back into the market since the disastrous launch of the Peugeot 505 in the mid 90′s.

The Citroen C5 is expected to cost beween 200,000rmb and 300,000rmb, although there are rumors of a sub 200k entry level model. The C5 will find itself some stiff competition from VW Magotan, Toyota Camry, and Honda Accord, all of which are highly popular cars in that segment.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Dongfeng-Peugeot have been keeping a lid on any plans for a Pug 408 for the Chinese market and have so far relied on the import method which has netted them a few sales. If it is to be launched in China it’s expected that the 408 will use the same 2.0/2.4l engines that soon to be launched Citroen C5 will use, and will most probably come down the same factory line in Wuhan.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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The potential for a Hafei-PSA JV shows that Hafei arent quite ‘over‘ as previously thought.

According to recent reports, PSA and Hafei have resumed their talks on creating the JV which seemed to have stalled sometime ago due to opposition from PSA’s original JV partner, Dongfeng. Dongfeng have since been named in a plan to take over Hafei, but nothing has come of that either. A memorandum of understanding was signed between PSA and Hafei to research the possibilities of building MPV’s at Hafei’s Shenzhen factory in southern China. PSA plans to improve its Chinese market share and take on VW, and Toyota in the Chinese market and sees the best way of doing that is by offering more models in China.

PSA is currently underperfoming in the Chinese market, with sales being down at Peugeot by 3.7% despite the automotive market growing by a staggering 9%.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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The upper mid size sedan segment has had a fair amount of action this year with the launch of the Nissan Teana, the new VW Magotan TSG/DSI model, and the new Buick Lacrosse being launched as well. Obviously Citroen would like to improve sales in China, and sees the best way of doing so is via launching new cars in China from their vast European portfolio. The Chinese C5 is expected to use a 2.3l engine.

The Chinese C5 is expected to into production in October and will launch in January 2010, pricing has not yet been announced, but it is expected to be around 200,000rmb.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Citroen plan to launch the second generation Citroen C5 into China later this year according to Chinese media reports. The C5 is expected to be on the market towards the end of 2009, but the Peugeot 408 is not expected to follow in its footsteps.

In the past few years Dongfeng-Citroen has stalled in the Chinese marketplace, but a recent surge of new models such as the C-Quattre and C-Quattre sedan has seen Citroen’s sales grow by an impressive 21% over 2008, Dongfeng Citroen achieved sales of 65740 units, or a 21.8% increase over the first half of 2008.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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The Citroen C4 was launched in China with a new name, the C-Quattre, and has sold reasonably well since its launch. The sedan will possibly do better sales wise than its hatchback brother, due to the Chinese appetite for compact sedans.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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The Citroen C4 was recently launched in China, but the name was changed to C-Quattre, as ’4′ in Chinese sounds very similar to the word for death.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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The Chinese 206 is to be given a facelift to look more like the 207, but not actually become the 207. Let us explain further: The Brazillian automobile market also received the 206, but in May 2008, Peugeot Brazil decided to bring the 206′s design inline with the European 207. This was mainly a re-engineered front end, slight upgrades to the dash and alterations to the suspension design. The Chinese 206 already has a 3cm higher ride height than the previous European 206, so we are unsure if there will be a change to the forthcoming Chinese 206/7.

Rumors are also afloat that Dongfeng Peugeot 206 will introduce a 206 sedan to compete with the recently introduced Mazda 2 sedan which is selling very well. The 206 sedan is already on sale in Iran

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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The Citroen C1 is to be made via the Citroen-Dongfeng joint venture partnership, and should be on the market by September 08. The C1 will be equipped with front airbags, MP3 player connections, and ABS, priced at 60,000rmb and rising for the 1.0l model, its a car we could love for the city center.

Of course, this makes us wonder – If the C1 is coming to China, then surely the Peugeot equivlant cant be far behind? Not that we care, the models from Citroen China are far better looking than those from Peugeot.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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The Citroen C4 was announced in China several days ago, and will officially hit the market in September priced from 140,000rmb and rising. The C4 was given the name Citroen C-Quatre for the Chinese name, or in Chinese: 世嘉, lit ‘world winner’

The C-Quatre will be powered by either a choice of 1.6 or a 2.0l engine, paired with VVT technology.  Dealers will begin accepting deposits on the C4 in August, and the C4 will be available for pick up from Sept 08 onwards.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Another new model that Dongfeng Citroen will introduce is the C4. Despite being popular in Europe, Citroen have not yet launched it into China leaving them with a large market gap. Currently Citroen have nothing in their range to go up against the ever popular Mazda 3, or the Ford Focus. Citroen hope that introducing the C4 into China, they will be able to enter new market segments and improve sales in each of their segments.

Citroen currently makes the Xsara Picasso MPV, theTriumphe (worlds strongest car?) the Elysee, and the Citroen C2.

The Citroen C2 is not the same model that was launched in the EU marketplace, instead the Chinese C2 is a facelifted Peugeot 206 which actually looks a lot better than the Peugeot 206. The Citroen C2 is due to be updated for 2008/9, thus the current C2 has had a price cut of 13,000rmb.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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The below Citroen C-Triomphe was crushed by a landslide in the recent earthquake in Sichuan, but despite its roof collpasing the car was able to drive normally according to recent press reports.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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Yesterday, Citroen announced that that mid level Citroen C5 would go into production in 2009, and the C4 would see PRC production in 2008.

China Car Times does prefer the Citroen line up to the Peugeot line up! The 207 and the 307 have that squashed frog look about them, where as the Citroen line up looks rather sophisticated, even the latest incarnation of the ZX, with its updated grill and odd metallic paint job looks pretty good. Citroen China also has the C-Triumphe C-Triomphe (left), a notchback sedan based on the Citroen C4, which is a very nice car for its class.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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