PSA will launch its first plug-in hybrid in 2019 and new electric vehicles in 2020

PSA’s CEO PSA Peugeot Citroën, Carlos Tavares, announced at the annual shareholders’ meeting this Wednesday that the company will renew and expand its range of models powered by alternative energies by the end of this decade. The first to join its lineup will be a plug-in hybrid vehicle, a new market niche for the group and one that is extremely important in the medium term for mainstream manufacturers.

As the former chief executive of Renault pointed out, the model will be based on the modular EMP2 platform currently used by the Citroën C4 Picasso and the Peugeot 308. Tavares said the development of its structure is already defined and engineers are now focusing on deciding what type of battery they will use to power the electric motor of the propulsion system.

Although the identity of the vehicle that will debut this technology remains a secret, PSA has clarified that it will be installed in one of its top-of-the-range cars. The media speak of a DS, but the French group has preferred not to add further comments on the matter. For now, the conglomerate only stresses the importance of entering this segment of the market, given the future it is expected to have over the next five years.

Although in 2014, according to data from JATO Dynamics, plug-in hybrids accounted for 17.2% of hybrid sales in Europe -a region dominated by a wide margin by the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV with 19,855 units-, automotive industry analysts predict that these variants will overtake conventional hybrids in registrations in 2019.

In addition, in 2020 a new and much stricter European emissions regulation will come into force, requiring brands to reach an average of 95 g/km of CO2 across all their products on sale. Combined, these factors will push mainstream manufacturers present in Europe that have not yet dared to enter the plug-in hybrid and electric segments to do so.

That same year, PSA will have its second generation of electric cars ready, intended to replace the Citroën C-Zero and Peugeot iON, which are in turn derived from the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, presented in 2006. These vehicles will be built on the EMP1 architecture, which will also give rise to its new members of the B and C segments.

At the shareholders’ meeting, Tavares guaranteed that these products will offer better performance, feature a greater electric range, and their retail price will be reduced to boost sales on the continent. The CEO also noted that PSA has created a group specifically dedicated to their design, without giving more concrete details about what they are working on.

Source: Automotive News