The Indian auto industry is going to see some new entrants in near future and one of them is the Groupe PSA which is all set to enter our market most likely in 2020. PSA seems to be testing its DS7 Crossback in India which could be its first product for our market. However, we are still uncertain about the brand PSA is considering. The DS brand is essentially a subsidiary of Citroen which has caught the fancy in the European market in last two years and rivals the German Treo. If the DS7 Crossback makes its way to the Indian market, it will rival the likes of the Audi Q3 and BMW X1.
Though we do not have many details about the India-spec model yet, we know some of the engine specifications. The DS 7 comes with a range of engine options in the European market, however, we are most likely to get the 2.0-litre diesel engine and the 1.6-litre petrol motor which are mated to an eight-speed electric gearbox as standard. There is also a possibility of a plug-in-hybrid variant to be included in the India line-up.
The DS7 Crossback rivals the likes of Audi Q3 and BMW X1.
The DS7 Crossback is underpinned by the Goupe PSA's EMP2 platform and will be manufactured at the Hosur plant in Tamil Nadu once the assembly line gets ready. The Hosur plant at present makes powertrains and transmissions for Groupe PSA and the powertrain which will make into the India-spec model will be BSVI complaint.
The powertrain plant was inaugurated in November this year and is functional under a 50:50 joint venture with CK Birla. The plant will manufacture gearboxes in Phase I to support both the India project as well as supplying Groupe PSA needs. The peak investment in this manufacturing set up would go up to Rs. 600 crore and will generate direct employment of around 800 people. The initial manufacturing capacity of this state-of-the-art plant will be about 3 lakh units per year for the transmissions and 2 lakh units for the BS 6 compliant engines. The manufacturing set up has been completed in a record time of less than 2 years.
