Stupid Move Of The Day: PSA To Export From China To Russia

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

PSA Peugeot, and their joint venture with China’s Dongfeng, are planning to export cars made in China to Russia, said Gregoire Olivier, Peugeot-Citroen’s recently appointed head of Asian operations, to The Beijing News via Gasgoo.

PSA wants to sell cars made at the Chinese JV in other regions of Asia and Russia as early as next year, said Olivier. The only thing that’s keeping them from doing it right now is the lack of a logistics platform. But they are building that in Shanghai as we speak, and it should be up and running next year.

Because Olivier was recently appointed, he may have missed various memos, and will be forgiven. Here a quick update:

  • Russia does not want any imported cars. Especially not from China. Vladimir Putin has issued a “build in mother Russia, or else” ultimatum. The import duty for new cars, currently at 30 percent, will be raised “step by step.” Even a made in China car will become expensive in Russia.
  • It may not be wise to encourage exports of joint venture cars made in China to other parts of the world. Currently, most JV contracts expressly prohibit this. China and Chinese JV partners on the other hand will eagerly rise to the occasion. These cars are perfectly exportable, crash-tested, certified, and come with a reputable brand.
Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • TokyoPlumber TokyoPlumber on Sep 13, 2010

    Interesting. I wonder if he meant to say that the JV was planning to export components (ex, engines) rather than fully assembled vehicles.

  • Charly Charly on Sep 13, 2010

    Peugeot is the only Western none luxury brand that has a real presence in the Japan and Korea so it makes sense to export Chinese made cars to them. There is also Eastern Russia which i think is the target market for Chinese made Peugeot's. ps. I know VW isn't luxury, but it is a twin of Audi.

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