Barkins article in Reuters: Paragraph seven s/b "cars," not "euros." Great company in France, Europe and Mercosur, but not so great in North America. Bernie
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From: [Unknown Sender]
To: peugeot-L@egroups.com
Sent: January 4, 2001 1:54:46 PM GMT
Subject: Record Peugeot Sales
New models drive Peugeot sales to record high
By Noah Barkin
PARIS, Jan 4 (Reuters) - PSA Peugeot-Citroen, Europe's second biggest
car maker after Volkswagen said on Thursday it sold a record 2.816
million vehicles last year and expected to bump up sales to three
million units in 2001.
In contrast to its French rival Renault, which suffered from a lack
of new models and diesel engines in 2000, PSA profited from the
continued strength of its Peugeot 206 compact car and robust sales
for its new Citroen Xsara Picasso.
The company's new high-pressure direct injection (HDI) diesel engine,
which is now available in virtually all Peugeot and Citroen models,
also fuelled volume growth.
"In Europe PSA has done exceptionally well through a combination of
strong new products and demand for their diesel engines," said Lehman
Brothers analyst Jim Wright.
"I think the sales estimate for 2001 sets the tone for some quite
bullish forecasts for earnings."
PSA shares, which surged to a record high of 255 euros ($242.6) two
weeks ago, were up 2.31 percent at 243.5 euros at 1200 GMT.
The group, which had targeted an increase in 2000 sales to 2.7
million euros versus 2.516 million in 1999, outstripped its sales
forecast for the fourth year in succession.
PSA's 2000 figures came the day after fellow French car maker
Renault said total vehicle sales held steady at 2.3 million last
year but passenger car sales dipped 0.9 percent.
Renault saw its share of the European auto market edge down to 11
percent in 2000, while the PSA group's European share jumped to 13.7
percent from 12.7 in 1999.
STRONG SALES FOR XSARA PICASSO AND 206
PSA's leading market share for cars and light commercial vehicles in
France rose to 31.8 percent from 30.3 percent in 1999 and sales
outside of Europe pushed up to 17 percent of total volume, driven by
strong growth in the Mercosur and central European regions.
Sales of the Citroen Xsara leapt 50 percent in 2000 to 451,000 units,
with the Xsara Picasso minivan making up 183,000 of the total.
Meanwhile, sales of the popular Peugeot 206 -- the car which won the
2000 rallying drivers' and manufacturers' championship -- climbed 30
percent to 718,000 units.
Overall, Citroen's sales rose 13.2 percent to 1.14 million units
while the Peugeot brand scored an increase of 10.8 percent to 1.676
million.
Along with Volkswagen, PSA offers the most complete range of diesel
engines in Europe and therefore has benefited from a surge in demand
that accompanied a rise in the price of petrol.
In 2000, some 720,000 Peugeot and Citroen cars were equipped with the
fuel-efficient and environmentally-friendly hdi diesel engine, up
from 380,000 in 1999, and Peugeot expects more than a million to be
produced in 2001.
The total number of PSA cars sold with diesel engines in 2000 was
just shy of 1.4 million, dwarfing the 850,000 diesel-equipped models
sold by Renault, which is scrambling to ramp up diesel capacity for
this year.
08:11 01-04-01
Copyright 2001 Reuters Limited.
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