Peugeot outlines growth plans

Peugeot has laid out a plan to reinvigorate its brand, following the PSA Group’s recent revitalisation of sister company Citroen.

The plan involves increasing sales to move Peugeot up to the world’s seventh largest car maker by 2015, which involves jumping three places from its current position as number ten.

To achieve this, Peugeot said it will launch 14 new models between now and 2012. One of these will be inspired by the BB1 urban commuter car, although the production car will not be exactly the same as the concept. Peugeot said the vehicle will remain under 2.5m long, retain four seats and be powered by electricity.

“We will do it,” said PSA boss Jean Marc Gales. “It might not be the BB1 as you see it now, but we can capture the spirit and make it even better.”

There will also be a total modernisation of the Peugeot design to create what it hopes will be a more desirable range of cars, as its cars adopt the themes seen in the new SR1 concept. The first car to use some of these design cues will be the new 408, due to be revealed in China at the end of this month, but the first car to feature all of the SR1’s themes will be the replacement for the 207.

Peugeot CEO Jean Marc Gales said that the firm “will be making Peugeots again.” He said that new Peugeots would major on what he described as “driving pleasure and roadholding,” although he would not confirm a desire to return to the days of class-leading Peugeots such as the 205 GTi and 405.

However, the firm will launch what it calls the Haute Series, a range of more bespoke cars kicking off with the RCZ this year. This wll be followed by two new models in what Peugeot calls the M2 and B-segments.

As well as increasing its desirability, Peugeot aims to improve the ownership experience and wants to rank in the top three manufacturers in the JD Power customer satisfaction survey by 2015. It is currently in 17th place out of 23 in Germany and 11th in France out of 25.