Peugeot-Citroēn Marketing DS Cars in China as Upscale French Brand

PeugeotPeugeotFrance, 1882 > present120 models
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-CitroënCitroënFrance, 1919 > present94 models
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(PSA) has decided to launch Citroën's DS line of cars in China and market them as French luxury vehicles. French luxury brands are quite popular in China as a sign of status. 

PSA will begin selling the DS3DS DS3France, 2010 > present99 versions
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, DS4DS DS4France, 2011 > present65 versions
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and DS5DS DS5France, 2011 > present37 versions
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in China to broaden interest and increase sales. They will compete with the lower tier of Chinese luxury brands like Volvo rather than the top tier luxury brands there like BMWBMWGermany, 1918 > present87 models
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, VWVolkswagenGermany, 1938 > present98 models
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and BuickBMWGermany, 1918 > present87 models
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. It plans to have 100 DS-only dealers in China by 2015. The DS5 will sell for between $47,000-$55,000 depending on trim, and the DS4 will top out around $47,000. It expects to sell 200,000 DS cars a year there by 2015. 

PSA believes that Chinese sales will reach 15% of its total sales by 2015. Sales from China made up 11% of its sales in 2011. It has begun working on a new factory in China with Dongfeng that will increase output to 750,000 cars a year. 

Source: Automotive News Europe