PSA Peugeot Citroen is in no hurry to set up shop in India. And even while reports have been doing the rounds of exploring the market’s potential or a possible alliance with a local partner, the French automaker wants to put its house in order first, according to industry sources.

“It is back in the black after nearly three years and would much rather focus on getting stronger in the coming years”, the sources said. With ally, Dongfeng, PSA will target growth in the Chinese market where its numbers have been growing rapidly. CEO, Carlos Tavares, would doubtless have India on his radar but he is probably telling his board that it can wait for now.

In its recently declared half yearly results, PSA has acknowledged that the India-Pacific region has ‘significant potential for the group’. Given that the market here is estimated to touch six million units in 2020, the company perhaps reasons that there is enough time to make an entry.

China, in any case, would be way ahead with production of over 25 million units. It will be PSA’s core market outside of Europe. The next stopover, in tandem with Dongfeng, will be the ASEAN region with Indonesia and Thailand as the key regions. India will need a completely different business model which will take more time to formulate.

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