SHANGHAI -- PSA/Peugeot-Citroen is putting into place its focus on its two core platforms for its volume models including a small-car architecture that it will jointly develop with Dongfeng Motor.
PSA aims to reduce the number of its passenger car platforms to two by 2022 from five now. It calls the new architectures Efficient Modular Platforms (EMP).
The EMP1 platform, which will be called the Common Modular Platform (CMP) in China, will underpin the next generation of B (subcompact) and entry-level C (compact) cars for the brands. The larger EMP2 platform already underpins two of PSA’s core compact models, the Peugeot 308 hatchback and Citroen C4 Picasso. EMP2 will also be used for the replacements for the Citroen C5 and Peugeot 508 midsize cars. It may also underpin a flagship sedan for DS due after 2020.
The smaller platform will become operational starting in 2018, PSA said in a statement on Sunday. It can be used to develop as many as 20 models from sedans to SUVs, PSA and Dongfeng said in a presentation in Shanghai. The statement marked the first anniversary of Dongfeng taking a 14 percent stake in PSA as part of a rescue package for the French automaker.
The EMP1 architecture will underpin the next Peugeot 208 and Citroen C3, as well as entry-level compacts such the next Citroen C4 Cactus. An upcoming DS subcompact crossover will be the first model to use EMP1. The rival to models such as the Renault Captur is due to launch in 2018 or shortly after.
The companies will spend 200 million euros ($216 million) on the smaller platform project with 60 percent of the expenditure committed by PSA, with the remaining 40 percent from Dongfeng. A team of Dongfeng engineers will be part of the project team based at PSA's main r&d center in Velizy, south of Paris.
The platform will enable PSA and Dongfeng to manufacture vehicles in their respective growth regions, PSA said. PSA will benefit from Dongfeng's supplier base in in China and southeast Asia, the statement said. The automakers will open a joint technology center in Shanghai to develop cars for Asian markets.
PSA aims to take 5 percent of the market in China with Dongfeng this year, with vehicle sales of 800,000, up from over 700,000 in 2014. It plans to more than double annual sales in China by 2020 to 1.5 million vehicles.
Weight saving
With the EMP2 architecture, PSA reduced the weight of the Peugeot 308 by 150kg.
PSA’s head of r&d, Gilles Le Borgne, said the EMP1 architecture will also allow weight reductions but these will not be as big as with EMP2 because of the platform’s smaller size.
“With EMP1 you can envisage about 100kg in weight savings – 50kg from the platform and 50kg from the rest of the body and trim. The reductions are 75kg+75kg for an EMP2-based vehicle such as the 308,” Le Borgne told Automotive News Europe.
PSA will add more models underpinned by the EMP2 platform, including compact crossovers for the Peugeot, Citroen, DS and Opel/Vauxhall brands. PSA has an industrial agreement with General Motors to share crossover development with PSA for Opel/Vauxhall models.
PSA’s new compact crossovers will replace the 3008 and 5008 minivans in the Peugeot range, as well as the Mitsubishi-sourced Citroen C4 Aircross and Peugeot 4008 crossovers.
The EMP2 platform is also planned to underpin a seven-seat midsize crossover at the moment planned only for the Peugeot brand.
The first compact crossovers are due to appear next year. They will be built for European markets in PSA’s plant in Sochaux, France, including the Opel/Vauxhall variant. PSA also plans to start production of a Peugeot five-seat compact crossover model in China in 2017.
Besides the EMP1 and EMP2 platforms, PSA also sells the Peugeot 108 and Citroen C1 built on a platform shared with the Toyota Aygo. The French company also has a separate platforms for light commercial vehicles.
PSA and GM said last week that the replacements for the Citroen Berlingo, Peugeot Partner and Opel/Vauxhall Combo light commercial vans will be built on PSA’s latest LCV architecture in the PSA plant in Vigo, Spain. The first vehicles will go on sale in 2018.
Besides the crossover and van joint projects, PSA and GM will build the successors to the Opel Meriva and Citroen C3 Picasso minivan on a PSA platform in GM's plant in Zaragoza, Spain.
Reuters and Bloomberg contributed to this report
