PSA Peugeot Citroën awards the K9 project to Vigo

The PSA Peugeot Citroën Group's Executive Committee has announced its decision to award the Vigo plant the contract to manufacture the K9 project, a new light commercial vehicle platform for various brands within the group and for Opel, thanks to the agreement signed with General Motors. The multinational's management has communicated the award in Paris to Alberto Núñez Feijóo, President of the Xunta de Galicia (Galician regional government), while the workers were informed at the Galician plant's facilities by Yann Martin, the factory director.

According to the newspaper El Faro de Vigo, citing industry sources, the supplier allocation process will take place during the first half of 2015, while vehicle manufacturing will begin in 2017.

Throughout the morning, reactions to the news have been emerging, undoubtedly one of the most decisive in recent months for the future of the Galician and Spanish automotive industry. Alberto Núñez Feijóo explained that "the awarding of this project to the Vigo plant is very important for Galicia. PSA Peugeot Citroën is a key player in the economic and industrial fabric of the region, and the Galician government is firmly committed to continuing to support this company and its Vigo factory to further improve their competitiveness."

For his part, Yann Martin noted that "this is the news we've all been waiting for in Vigo, because together we made it possible. After much work and hard effort, the decision that will be decisive for our future has been confirmed. The K9 will ensure a significant production volume in the next decade and will enable the execution of our Industrial Plan, through which we will profoundly transform the factory to make it more competitive and thus be ready for other new models."

According to Denis Martin, Director of the European Region at PSA Peugeot Citroën, “We have had strong ties with Galicia for years, which offers PSA and our Vigo site real opportunities for innovation. Today we confirm the allocation of K9 production to the Vigo plant, which has demonstrated its capacity to host this project. It's a great day for Vigo. PSA is the leader in the light utility vehicle segment in Europe, and the success of the K9 project is essential for our brands.”

Meanwhile, Yann Vincent, Industrial and Supply Chain Director at PSA Peugeot Citroën, stated that "as I mentioned on December 1st during my meeting with Alberto Núñez Feijóo, President of Galicia, the support provided by the Xunta (regional government) to strengthen the competitiveness of the automotive sector has been conclusive. The efforts made by all the workers at the Vigo plant within the framework of the proposed industrialization of a new model, responding to the Group's economic demands, have materialized today with the awarding of the K9 project to the plant. Now, work remains to ensure that the vehicle leaves the assembly lines under the required competitiveness and profitability."

The National Association of Automobile and Truck Manufacturers' Management stated in a statement that "the efforts made by all workers, employers, central and regional governments, etc., have been rewarded with this new project in the Galician region." In this regard, Mario Armero, executive vice president of the association, noted that "the decision made by PSA Peugeot-Citroën today is fundamental to the drive and support that Spanish industry needs. This investment represents a new opportunity for the future to expand Spain's industrialization and a very important step toward the goal of returning Spain to producing three million vehicles. This new project strengthens the industrial capacity of the country's factories. Spain and its automotive industry continue to make progress in industrial and economic development, but there is still a long way to go, and therefore, we must continue proposing initiatives and reforms to ensure Spain continues to progress."

SOURCE: Europapress