PSA sold a record 3.6M units in 2010

PARIS (Bloomberg) – PSA/Peugeot-Citroen SA sold a record 3.6 million vehicles last year and remains on course to meet its 2010 profitability target, CEO Philippe Varin said on Thursday.

PSA's sales rose about 13 percent from 3.19 million vehicles in 2009, even as the European market declined 5 percent, Varin said at a briefing in Paris.

Demand in the region will be stable in 2011, while the French market may shrink 10 percent after the withdrawal of scrapping incentives last month, Varin predicted. The Paris-based carmaker met its 1.5 billion-euro ($2 billion) operating profit target for 2010, he said.

Varin has pledged to reduce PSA's dependence on Europe, which accounted for 66 percent of sales in 2009. The company expects to reach agreement in the first quarter on a second Chinese joint venture announced with Changan Automobile Group Co., Varin said. Planning for a factory investment in India has also entered an “active phase,” he said last month.

PSA is open to other potential joint ventures elsewhere in the world, Varin added, without elaborating. The carmaker is building a factory with Mitsubishi Motors Corp. in Kaluga, Russia, even after talks on a capital tie-up foundered last year.

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