PSA Peugeot-Citroen has announced that it will produce a new family of 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engines from 2011. The engines, which could be used in compact cars sold in Australia from both French brands, will be built at two sites in Europe – one in Tremery, France, which will be operational from 2011, and the other in an Eastern European country still to be determined. The latter will be established by 2012, with an announcement on the destination to be made by the middle of this year. PSA currently has plants in Slovakia (Trnava), the Czech Republic (Kolin) and Turkey (Bursa). The obvious beneficiaries of the new engine family will be the Citroen C1 and the Peugeot 107 micro hatches, which are produced in a joint-venture program with Toyota (Aygo). All three models have been under consideration for sale in Australia, with the 107 – which currently offers a 50kW/94Nm 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine – firming as the first to arrive Down Under with an expected introduction late this year. According to PSA, the new three-pot engine family will bring “significant reductions” in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. It also said the main aim was to bring to market vehicles with CO2 emissions below 100g/km – “without additional technology”.
That means the engines are unlikely to form the basis of future petrol-electric hybrid cars, which the French manufacturer is also developing for both the Peugeot and Citroen brands.
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