PSA Group Registers 464% Q1 Growth in MENA Region

French automaker PSA Group in a press release said that the company’s global sales in the first quarter of 2017 amounted to €13,629 million, of which €9,018 million was for the Automobile Division and €5,092 million for Faurecia (automotive parts manufacturer).

The group’s revenues increased by 4.9% compared to the first quarter of 2016, according to ET Auto.

PSA’s Middle East and North Africa sales increased 299.7% y/y due to the new joint venture called IKAP created in conjunction with Iran Khodro Group back in June 2016. That makes the MENA region the best performing in the first quarter outside Europe.

There were no separate figures for Iran although in the press release by the company 120,161 (+464.8%) Peugeot-branded units were sold in Q1 in the MENA region. Another 12,215 (+5.1%) Citroen-branded cars were sold with just 456 (+33.7%) high-end DS cars sold in the region during the first three months

Overall sales were up 4.2%, driven by Peugeot’s sales in the Middle East and Africa, claims the company.

The company also started production of Peugeot 2008 in Iran which is yet to hit the showrooms around the country. The price of that model is expected now to be at 900 million rials ($26,000).

Jean Baptiste de Chatillon, chief financial officer of the PSA Group and member of the executive board, said, “The success of our profitable organic growth plan” Push to Pass “is confirmed by the success of our launches and the continuation of our international offensive. In an ever volatile and uncertain economic environment, our agility is more than ever a competitive advantage for achieving our growth and profitability objectives. “

In 2017, PSA Group expects the car market to grow by around 1% in Europe and by 2% in Latin America. The market is expected to grow by 5% in China and remain stable in Russia.

Operational objectives - The Push to Pass plan sets out the following objectives:

The company also expects to maintain over 4.5% operating margin for the automotive division over the period 2016-2018 and a target of more than 6% in 2021;

Overall for the group, the company aims at a 10% increase in its turnover between 2015 and 2018, targeting another 15% by 2021.