Peugeot and NAZA Group, one of Malaysia’s leading carmakers, have consolidated their partnership with the signature of an agreement to produce around 60,000 Peugeot 408s through to 2016. Signature of the deal by Grégoire Olivier, CEO of Asian Operations for PSA Peugeot Citroën and Nasarudin Nasimuddin, Chairman of NAZA Group, took place during a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur, on the sidelines of the Motor Show in which Peugeot is participating. The 408, a C-segment model, will boost the Peugeot range’s offering in Malaysia. In fact, this project marks a new phase in the partnership between Peugeot and NAZA Group, which began in 2006 with assembly of the 206 Saloon and continued in 2010, with manufacture of the 207 Sedan. Assembly in Malaysia of all these right-hand-drive vehicles should make it possible to benefit from customs agreements within ASEAN, so facilitating export to other countries in this zone (Thailand, Indonesia, etc.), as well as in several countries of the Pacific and Africa. The arrival of the 408 within the range should make it possible to significantly extend Peugeot’s coverage of the Malaysian market and reinforce its increasingly high-profile image. The 408 will be assembled at the NAZA plant in Gurun, to the north of Kuala Lumpur.
On a market which is forecast to grow and heartened by the recent successful launch of the 207 Sedan, Peugeot is targeting 3,500 registrations for Malaysia in 2010, corresponding to a market share of 0.6%. However, with a range enhanced by new products in a bid to meet the high expectations of the Malaysian market, Peugeot hopes to boost its market share in the country to 3% by 2015. This new agreement with NAZA enables Peugeot to bolster its positions in ASEAN (Association of South East Asiatic Nations), and pursue its development beyond Europe where 42% of its global sales were already generated in first half 2010.
