Seeing as both Peugeot and Citroën have expanded their electric-car dreams, Mitsubishi will build the French automakers a total of 100,000 i-MiEVs, which will be rebranded as the C-Zero and iOn, respectively, when sold in Europe.
Originally, PSA Peugeot-Citroën had planned on selling no more than 25,000 of the badge-engineered electric kei cars, but shortly after unveiling the cars late last year, that figure was doubled. It was doubled again today, when the 100,000-car figure was revealed. The new supply contract is expected to run through 2015.
Seeing as both cars are expected to arrive in dealers by the end of 2010, Jean-Marc Gales, executive vice president of the Citroën brand, says PSA will be the first mass-market European automaker to sell electric vehicles — so long as the timing beats that of the Nissan Leaf.
PSA’s goal of selling 25,000 units a year, however, may be limited by supply, if not demand. Citing a battery supply issue, Mitsubishi claims it can only build a maximum of 9000 i-MiEV vehicles annually. It does, however, plan on increasing its battery production capability, as the automaker has noted it plans on selling 30,000 i-MiEVs annually by 2013.
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Source: automobiemag.com
