Take a peek at Stellantis' efforts in acclimatising Peugeot vehicles for regional conditions at their Gurun plant

Yes, we know the video sounds like a bunch of Peugeot propaganda and to an extent, it is. However, if you peel away the layers of spin speak, you’ll notice that plenty of effort has gone into acclimatising Peugeot vehicles locally-assembled at their plant in Gurun, Kedah, to cater for the demands and requirements of the regional market.

Prior to this, the brand didn’t exactly infuse a reassuring sense of confidence in buyers though the majority of that blame should be shouldered by the previous guardians of the marque here.

This time around, Stellantis believes that if you want something done right, you do it yourself. That’s precisely the reason behind them acquiring the Gurun assembly plant in Kedah to handle CKD operations themselves.

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According to the video, plenty of emphasis has been placed on build quality and endurance testing to ensure “every Peugeot is designed to bet at the top end of the upper mainstream market.”

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Ambitious but we respect that based on the video above.

Asean road conditions and the intense tropical weather does take a toll on the vehicles here. In fact, it’s more demanding than some other global markets. Hence why Stellantis decided to test the vehicles here to ensure it can withstand the regional conditions.

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The 3008 and 5008 SUVs have undergone testing for over 300,000 km while the compact 2008 SUV has clocked up over 200,000 km in the quest for durability and endurance.

Furthermore, all the testing data and lessons gathered from the testing conducted in Malaysia will be uploaded into Stellantis’ global standard for manufacturing, meaning that Peugeots produced in other markets will contain development data garnered from Malaysian testing.

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The plant in Gurun currently rolls out the 2008, 3008 and 5008 SUVs that serve the Malaysian market as well as regional markets that include Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines and Cambodia.

All in, the plant can produce a maximum of 70,000 units a year if needed.

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They’re understandably quite proud about the whole “Peugeot, built in Asean for Asean” theme. We’re glad it’s built in Asean so long as it stays out of the workshop.