Europe’s second-largest carmaker, PSA Peugeot Citroën, will reduce its model lineup by almost half and turn the Citroën’s upscale sub-brand DS into a separate brand as the company struggles to restore its automotive division to profitability.

The carmaker’s new CEO, Carlos Tavares, unveiled a new set of measures under the “Back in the Race” plan. He said the company’s operating profit from carmaking will amount to 2 percent of sales by 2018 and will rise to 5 percent in the 2019-2023 period.

The strategy is based on “aggressively” reducing the number of models to 26 models by 2020 from 45 now, as well as strengthening the presence in markets outside Europe. As for the DS luxury brand, it is projected to sell six vehicles by 2022.

“The group will continue to reposition the three brands, while clarifying their line-ups to ensure their complementarity, and will improve their price positioning,” Peugeot said in a statement. “The group’s line-ups will be gradually streamlined to 26 models by 2020. By focusing on a more compact range, PSA Peugeot Citroën will be able to improve market coverage and improve margins by targeting the most profitable segments,” Peugeot added.

The company also said that it is reorganizing sales operations and maintained the target to triple Chinese deliveries in partnership with Dongfeng by 2020, along with restoring profit in Russia and Latin America.

By Dan Mihalascu

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