French car group PSA Peugeot Citroen is thinking of setting up a low cost brand, in the steps of rival Renault.
PSA was “studying the question for Europe”, brand director Jean-Marc Gales said at the Geneva motor show, after the company had shown reticence about the idea.
However, no decision has been taken and the top French car maker did not suggest a timescale for a launch.
Renault's Dacia brand has proved to be a major success for the French automaker since it was launched in 2004 with a Romanian-made cheap but solid small sedan aimed initially at developing eastern and central European markets.
Renault's global marketing director Stephen Norman said: “In 2011, Dacia will be the first European brand to offer online sales of its ordinary new car range.
PSA, which this week intensified its partnership with German premium car maker BMW to build hybrid petrol-electric drivetrains, had even ruled out the idea of a low-cost car until a few months ago.
Gales said: “One thing is for sure it will neither be a Peugeot, nor a Citroen,” even ruling out the possibility of selling such a car through its current dealer network.
Renault, by contrast, is planning on sales of three million Dacia vehicles in 2013, compared to 2.6 million in 2010, with low-cost vehicles accounting for 28-30 percent of worldwide sales, according to plans released in February.
The range is being expanded and the saturated Romanian manufacturing plant will be supplemented from 2012 by a new plant in Morocco.
“We will be extremely faithful to our credo for Dacia in Europe, that is cars which are built for people who have limited finance,” Norman said. - AFP