French Car Brand Citroen To Enter The Indian Market, Acquires Manufacturing Facility In Tamil Nadu

French auto major Groupe PSA is set to bring its Citroen brand to India with a top-line premium mid-size SUV called C5 Aircross, followed by a mass market small electric SUV by 2022, reports Economic Times.

The company has already acquired a manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu's Thiruvallur from Hindustan Motors which is a company of the C K Birla Group. It should be noted though that the company had earlier planned to turn India into an export hub for the SUV electric vehicle, but later decided to move the manufacturing to Europe with key parts being sourced from India.

Meanwhile, it should be noted that codenamed eCC21, Groupe PSA's electric SUV is likely to be priced around Rs 8 lakh, and it is expected to be launched in the Indian markets before Korean auto heavyweight Hyundai launches its first electric vehicle in India. The car will compete with M&M's E-KUV-100, Tata Motor's HBX small SUV and Renault's Kwid EV, which are all expected to be launched with electric powertrains over the coming 12-24 months.

The company is also betting on flexi-fuel car market in India and is developing a vehicle for the same, as the Government is pushing the industry to move towards biofuels in the nation and help bring down the ginormous fuel import bill. The car is expected to be launched in India next year.