Naza moves out, Stellantis takes full control of Gurun plant. CKD Peugeot 2008 coming soon

The parent company of Peugeot and Citroen, Stellantis, has obtained full ownership of the Naza Automotive Manufacturing (NAM) plant in Gurun, Kedah.

According to Stellantis, this move marks a significant milestone for the group within the SEA region and it has plans to invest and “dramatically expand its footprint”. The ex-Naza plant will also serve as Stellantis' regional hub. 

“Stellantis is deeply committed to growing our presence in ASEAN, and taking full ownership and responsibility of the plant in Gurun, Kedah is a very important step towards strengthening our operations, production outputs and workforce in the region,” said Christophe Musy, senior vice president, ASEAN & general distributors at Stellantis.

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He said, “We have an ambitious growth strategy that will enable us to build on the existing production outputs in Gurun, as well as extend the breadth of brands and models within the Stellantis portfolio built in ASEAN for ASEAN. This is a very exciting proposition.”

Kicking things off at the plant are the facelifted Peugeot 3008 and 5008 – both of which have been launched in Indonesia and Thailand, with Malaysia being the next market to receive the SUVs. But that’s not all – Stellantis will alsdo commence production of the second-generation Peugeot 2008 later this month.

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Furthermore, Musy said, “The group has seen increased demand for Peugeot in the region in spite of the pandemic, and production at the plant has now returned to pre-pandemic levels, with volumes being ramped up for the remainder of 2021 to re-establish car flow to Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and other ASEAN markets.”

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“We are working closely with our partners to increase plant capacity by almost 40% to meet demand, and this combined with our strong product plan and determination to achieve the highest standards in quality and safety has set us up for great success in Malaysia,” he added.