Construction of the Peugeot 4007 and Citroen C-Crosser is to be relocated to the Netherlands from Japan. The move will happen in January 2009, and follows on from Mitsubishi’s announcement that all European versions of its Outlander SUV (from which the Peugeot and Citroen are badge-engineered) will also be transferred to Europe.

Production is being moved to the so-called ‘NedCar’ plant, originally owned jointly by Volvo and Mitsubishi, but now the Japanese manufacturer’s European production base. The transfer should reduce order times for factory options, and allow both Citroen and Peugeot to respond more quickly to market demands.

The NedCar facility, which is wholly owned by Mitsubishi, currently builds the Colt supermini. In August 2008 Outlander production will begin there, with the Peugeot and Citroen versions following on in January 2009. The move will see up to 30,000 Outlanders and 25,000 of the Peugeot and Citroen versions being produced there every year. It’s a useful allocation for the Dutch plant, which has had spare capacity since the Smart ForFour was axed.

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