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.October 01, 2003
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This Week:

• First Luxury Lexus Built Outside of Japan Rolls off the Line in Cambridge, Ontario

• "THE SEARCH FOR THE ULTIMATE DRIVER"

• DaimlerChrysler Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Mercedes-Benz U.S. International in Tuscaloosa

• Chevrolet Aveo Brings Surprising Innovation To Entry-Level Car Segment

• New Paint Shop Inaugurated at PSA Peugeot Citroën's Mulhouse Plant

• Talking Cars For Less Congestion - The Future Of Telematics

• Nissan Announces Pricing On All-New Full-Size Pathfinder Armada SUV

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• Saab 9-3 Sport Sedan Named "Best Pick" in IIHS Crash Test

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New Paint Shop Inaugurated at PSA Peugeot Citroën's Mulhouse Plant
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Photo: PSA Peugeot 307 entering and leaving the different anticorrosion baths

Jean-Martin Folz, CEO of PSA Peugeot Citroën, today inaugurated the new paint shop at the Mulhouse plant, at a ceremony attended by a large number of local personalities. The new, €250-million turnkey paint shop was built in response to higher production volumes, the introduction of heavier and larger vehicles and changes in regulatory standards, all of which required an upgrade of the existing 30-year-old production facilities at Mulhouse. The 56,000-square-meter paint shop is equipped with 590 workstations and at full ramp-up will be able to paint an average of 87 vehicles per hour, or 1,827 vehicles per day in three shifts.

Thirty vehicles a day will be painted during the startup period, which will run until December. This period will be used to set the roughly 25,000 application parameters and verify installation reliability. Production will then rise to 900 vehicles per day until March 2004, and subsequently increase to 1,827 vehicles per day, at which time the older paint shop will be shut down. The facility is designed to deliver lower production costs than today's most efficient paint shops, while responding to high quality standards, the versatility of vehicle models, environmental concerns, workstation practices and manufacturing flexibility.

Significant innovations have been introduced at all stages of the paint application process, the most advanced of which is the substitution of tinted power primers for liquid primers. Tinted primers and the ability to change tint between vehicles depending on each one's topcoat color are a world first. Other plants use one powder primer tint, whereas PSA Peugeot Citroën is the only automaker to use a number of tints (light, medium and dark gray, red and yellow) in a high line speed process.

The new paint shop also reflects PSA Peugeot Citroën's commitment to environmental protection. The painting process and technologies used in the new unit have reduced emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by 50%, water consumption by 30%, and solid waste production by 25%. Chromium and lead are no longer used.

Another objective was to improve working conditions by integrating them far upstream in the paint shop design process. Specific arrangements, such as adjustable handling devices to bring the bodies up to an appropriate height, onboard workstations and separation of automated process areas from manual work areas, were introduced to facilitate the work of operators and improve shop floor conditions.

The Mulhouse plant, which has a workforce of 13,000, is dedicated to the production of the PSA Peugeot Citroën Group's Platform 2 vehicles, of which it manufactures 62%. Output totaled 448,760 vehicles in 2002 (53% Peugeot 307s, 26% Peugeot 206 sedans and 21% Peugeot 206 CCs).

(September 25, 2003)