PSA Peugeot Citroën building a design centre

16 July 2002: PSA Peugeot Citroën is building a Design Centre to enhance the group’s ability to create Peugeot and Citroen models of the future. The cornerstone for the Center was laid on 27 June at PSA Peugeot Citroën’s engineering facility in Vélizy, near Paris, where some 800 people will create the new models.

The Centre will bring together the following processes on a single site: Style studios for Peugeot designers (currently based at La Garenne, near Paris) and Citroën designers (currently at Vélizy). Technical staff, notably research and innovation engineers and future vehicle project teams, as well as experts in various automotive processes, including bodywork, electronics and telematics. Product teams, with representatives of Group, Peugeot and Citroën marketing teams.

The Centre will benefit from the most advanced automobile design technology available today, such as digital mock-up systems, CAD workstations, calculation computers, graphic terminals, full-scale screens and a virtual reality room.

To build the Centre, PSA Peugeot Citroën is investing some 130 million euros, of which 85 million euros for the building and 45 million euros for equipment. The facility is scheduled to come on stream in early 2004.

Architects were invited to submit proposals for the building, and the Ripaul-Duhart architectural firm was selected because of its project’s functionality, modular approach and ability to preserve confidentiality. In addition, the project was perfectly in line with the Group’s specifications for pooling resources while strengthening the identities of the Peugeot and Citroën marques.

The new Design Centre illustrates the Group’s commitment to enhancing its approach to design, with the goal of creating powerful Peugeot and Citroën styles and innovative automotive concepts built on shared technical platforms.

July 2002