BMW and PSA Peugeot Citroen are planning to invest €100million on a joint venture called BMW Peugeot Citroen Electrification.
The new company will operate from Munich in Germany and Mulhouse in France with around 400 employees. It will launch in the second quarter of 2011 and the hybrid components it produces will help to equip both partners’ vehicles from 2014 onwards.
Its focus is to develop hybrid components for the electrification of their respective vehicle ranges. The components will include battery packs; generators; power electronics; software for hybrid systems; chargers; and E-machines. It will create an open platform on technologies and supports the European industry to structure itself in hybridisation.
Philippe Varin, the chairman of the managing board of PSA Peugeot Citroen, commented that the joint venture would help to develop advanced technological manufacturing expertise; while Norbert Reithofer, the chairman of the board of management of BMW, believes the companies share the same vision of the importance of hybridisation in the future.
The greater Munich area will be the location for research and development while Mulhouse will be used for production. The venture is just the latest in a long line of co-operative agreements between BMW and PSA Peugeot Citroen which date back almost 10 years.
