Peugeot Citroën South Africa (PCSA) is “fighting as a team” to secure local assembly of the Peugeot 301 in South Africa, says PCSA MD Francis Harnie.

He says the entry-level sedan is only available in left-hand drive at the moment, and that PCSA wants the opportunity to produce the right-hand-drive version for South Africa and a number of export markets.

Harnie says the vehicle – “somewhere between an Etios and a Corolla” – has proved popular in Northern Africa and Eastern Europe.

The vehicle is targeted at developing markets more than developed markets.

Harnie says the vehicle “is ideal for South Africa”.

He also notes that, while there exists only a Peugeot product on this particular platform, it is possible to also develop a Citroën model.

Assembly in South Africa may be completely knock-down assembly, or less capital intensive semi-knockdown (SKD) assembly. It is also possible to establish a global right-hand-drive dash plant in South Africa for the 301 model.

Harnie says PCSA’s parent company, in Paris, is mulling the option of assembling the sedan in South Africa.

“A decision is to be made in two, three weeks maximum. We are lying in pole position.”
Harnie says a positive response from France will mean that assembly of three models may start in 2015 or 2016.

“We are negotiating with candidates to build the 301 locally.”

The proposed multimodel vehicle assembly plant in East London, in the Eastern Cape, is one option, he adds, but notes that there is no infrastructure on the ground yet, and that it will take time to produce the required infrastructure.

He says the project can start with SKD assembly for a few years, and then migrate to East London.

Production volumes are estimated at around 7 000 to 15 000 units a year, with 4 000 to 5 000 of these destined for the local market.

Although this is short of the 50 000-a-year threshold to qualify for significant benefits under government’s Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP), Harnie says the APDP does allow for smaller players to grow their volumes.

He says the APDP is “very interesting”, and devised by some “very clever guys”.