Toyota, PSA Peugeot Citroën Plan Joint Development/Production Of Small Cars
Companies Due to Sign Memorandum of Understanding on 12 July
Tokyo – TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) and PSA PEUGEOT CITROËN (PSA) announced today that ongoing cooperation talks should lead to the signing of a memorandum of understanding on 12 July for the joint development of a new vehicle platform to be used in joint production in Europe of small, entry-level passenger cars for both parties.
Primarily designed for European markets, this new car concept has been conceived to meet the changing needs of local customers. Cars produced using this common platform will have a three-fold advantage: they will have prices lower than those in the current small-car segment, feature a high-level of standard safety performance, and offer excellent environmental achievements.
TMC considers this collaboration as one of its efforts to meet consumer demand for low-cost, fuel-efficient and environment-friendly vehicles. It believes that working together will provide a capable response to the expanding small passenger car market.
PSA Peugeot Citroën views this cooperation between two independent companies as a further materialisation of the PSA Peugeot Citroën Group’s strategy aimed at reaching agreements on the joint development and production of mechanical components and platform elements, with the objective of obtaining economies of scale.
TMC President Fujio Cho and PSA Peugeot Citroën CEO Jean-Martin Folz intend to sign a memorandum of understanding in Brussels on 12 July, 2001, after which they hope to outline this new cooperation at a joint press conference to be held at 11 a.m., local time (6 p.m. JST) on the same day. Details on the conference site, etc. will be provided through a media advisory at a later date.
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