Business

Friday October 9, 2009

Naza to assemble another Peugeot model locally

By CHOI TUCK WO


PARIS: Naza Automotive Manufacturing Sdn Bhd will produce a new entry level Peugeot car, codenamed T33, for the Malaysian and export markets next year.

Its joint group executive chairman S.M. Nasaruddin S.M. Nasimuddin said Malaysia would be the only country to produce the right-hand-drive model.

He added that the T33 would be launched in Malaysia in the third quarter of next year and production would begin a month or two before that.

“We’re looking at producing 6,000 units in the first year for the local market,” he told Malaysian journalists after a memorandum of understanding signing ceremony between himself and Automobiles Peugeot president Jean-Marc Gales here on Wednesday.

S.M. Nasaruddin S.M. Nasimuddin (left) exchanging documents with Jean-Marc Gales. With them is Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. — Bernama

The ceremony was witnessed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who was on a working visit to France.

The T33 model will be assembled at Naza’s Gurun plant in Kedah that has a capacity to produce 55,000 units annually.

Positioned as an entry level Peugeot, the T33 will join the nine existing Peugeot variants currently available in Malaysia. It is seen as a first step towards an increased Peugeot presence in Asean, using Malaysia as its base.

Nasaruddin said the price had not been finalised but it would be appealing to Malaysians wanting to buy a continental car in a particular segment.

He said there was still a lot of buying power in Malaysia despite the economic recession, with the people “spending money on the right products at the right time.”

In fact, he said, sales of Peugeot cars in Malaysia rose from 748 units last year to 2,758 as of August this year, a jump of 300%.

“We hope to close the year with 4,000 sales,” he said, adding that Naza expected the T33 model to contribute to even higher sales in the third quarter of next year and beyond.

Nasaruddin also said Naza was currently in talks with Peugeot to develop another model in Malaysia, six months after the launch of the T33.

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