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Hero Honda Goes French with PSA Peugeot Citroen!

My younger brother was insisting that I get him a two-wheeler. I went to a Hero Honda showroom to buy him a Splendor Plus and I got chatty with a sales person there. He told me that Hero Honda is planning to enter the car industry in India. Apparently they are in talks with the French car major PSA Peugeot Citroen to start manufacturing cars in India.

This French car was looking for a good partner to introduce its cars in India and they found Hero Honda as their ideal partner. If everything goes well, Hero Honda will officially declare its plans and probably embark on manufacturing PSA Pegeot Citroen cars sometime in the next year or two.

I’m wondering why Hero Honda is suddenly considering entering the car market. Is Hero Honda worried about its fate after the launch of Tata’s Nano? Anyway, it’s difficult to study the minds of businessmen; I only wish these guys success in their new venture.

I love my Hero Honda bike and if they think they can make cars, I say go for it Hero!

Article submitted by Kishen Malhotra

Labels: Bikes, car industry, Car manufacturing, Hero Honda, Peugeot

Peugeot in India again!

After a long pause, Peugeot, the French automaker, is once again gazing at the Indian market with a low cost model that is under development. Who can blame them for a second glance – at the rate the Indian automobile industry is growing; manufactures have to be blind not to notice us! The company seems still worried about the failure faced by Peugeot and Premier Automobiles Ltd. (PAL), their joint venture partners, in their formative years in India.

The cause for the closure of Peugeot in India had termed differently, as poor performance and joint venture failure. Its struggles to survive in the Indian market have resulted in the eventual exit of the company from the Indian auto-scenario in November 1997 – just a year before the auto boom started. Even if the company didn’t play any important roles in the Indian Passenger car market, we cannot forget Peugeot as it was one of the first automobile MNCs to enter India.

As the Indian auto market has been a matter of interest for foreign automakers, like Volvo, Volkswagen, BMW, Audi, and many others from around the world, Peugeot is again getting ready to seek its luck in India. Our automobile industry has come a long way from the time they were here – we now not only have a splatter of automobile MNCs, but also a wider consumer interest. So, a definite green signal to Peugeot from my side!

Labels: Audi, BMW, car manufacturers, competition, Indian car market, Peugeot, Volkswagen, Volvo