PSA Peugeot Citroen eyes to raise sales in China

Major French car manufacturer PSA Peugeot Citroen said on Tuesday it targets to cement further cooperation with Chinese firm Dongfeng Motors to raise to 5 percent of its share in the Chinese market.

The two companies, which have set a joint venture known as DPCA in 1992 to strengthen collaboration, expect to bolster their production capacity by building a third plant scheduled to go into production in 2013.

"The reinforced partnership will give the joint venture additional resources to speed its growth in the world's largest market," and "it will enable DPCA to achieve its goal of a 5-percent share of the Chinese market by 2015," the French group said in a statement.

With an annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles, the new production unit will help both car manufactures to boost their total output to 750,000 cars by 2015 from the current yearly output of 450,000, said the statement.

The closer partnership also aims at launching at least one new vehicle per year and per brand, for a total of 12 new models over the next five years and to offer full hybrid vehicles in 2011 to cut carbon emissions.

Peugeot has obtained 3.3 percent of the Chinese market and it sold 272,000 cars in the previous year.