The PSA Group and Mitsubishi join forces for a new SUV

France and Japan are also doing business in the automotive world. The PSA Group, Citroën-Peugeot, and Mitsubishi have decided to combine their competitive strengths to create a new SUV that will revolutionise the market. The vehicle in question will be based on the Mitsubishi ASX and could arrive in early 2012.

This vehicle, aimed at the fastest-growing market in Europe, will be based on an existing platform of Mitsubishi. This platform is known as RVR in Japan and ASX in Europe. The car will have designs specific to each of the brands and will offer the option of 2-wheel and 4-wheel drive.

The production volume that Peugeot and Citroën plan to take on is 50,000 units a year. As far as the PSA Group is concerned, they intend to equip their version with a 1.6 HDi diesel engine, which would give us a more than respectable consumption of 4.7 litres per kilometre.

Each company’s interests in this operation are different. The PSA Group aims to grow in a market it does not yet dominate and which is likely to grow by 60% worldwide by 2015. Meanwhile, Mitsubishi aims to achieve economies of scale on its ASX platform.

Both companies have shown in the past that they can work together perfectly. Among the projects they have carried out are the models Mitsubishi Outlander, Peugeot 4007 and Citroën C-Crosser in 2005, the construction of a plant in Russia, and the launch at the end of 2010 of the electric cars Peugeot iOn and Citroën C-Zero.

Via | MotorTerra

Technical specifications of the cars in this article

CrossoverMitsubishi ASX8 versions · from 25,250 €

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Off-RoadMitsubishi Outlander5 versions · from 50,800 €