Reuters.com: French car maker PSA Peugeot-Citroen is teaming up with Bollore SA to jointly produce and sell electric cars, as well as promote car-sharing schemes worldwide.
PSA Peugeot-Citroen will manufacture Bollore's Bluesummer convertible, four-door electric car at its Rennes factory in western France and also sell it in their showrooms, the companies said on Wednesday.
Production will begin in September, with a maximum of 3,500 vehicles to be made per year.
The companies will also seek to promote car-sharing schemes, first in Europe and then by creating a worldwide joint venture. These would use electric vehicles and low-emission traditional vehicles.
The deal with Peugeot complements one signed by Bollore in September 2014 with Renault to produce the Bluecar model at a plant in Dieppe, northern France. Manufacturing started this month, replacing earlier production in the Italian city of Turin at car designer Pininfarina.
Bollore and Renault will also work together to carry out feasibility studies on a new model of electric car, something absent from the Peugeot deal.
Bollore's Bluecar has become a common sight in Paris under the "Autolib" self-service electric car hire programme, and similar systems have been launched in Lyon, Bordeaux, London and Indianapolis.
Vincent Bollore, the 63-year old Breton billionaire, created the Bluecar to prove the efficacy of his group's solid-state LMP batteries. But other players in the auto industry are betting on a different technology known as lithium ion batteries.
A spokesman for Bollore said the group could seek to sign partnerships with additional car makers outside France to expand production and availability of its electric cars.
PSA Peugeot-Citroen will manufacture Bollore's Bluesummer convertible, four-door electric car at its Rennes factory in western France and also sell it in their showrooms, the companies said on Wednesday.
Production will begin in September, with a maximum of 3,500 vehicles to be made per year.
The companies will also seek to promote car-sharing schemes, first in Europe and then by creating a worldwide joint venture. These would use electric vehicles and low-emission traditional vehicles.
The deal with Peugeot complements one signed by Bollore in September 2014 with Renault to produce the Bluecar model at a plant in Dieppe, northern France. Manufacturing started this month, replacing earlier production in the Italian city of Turin at car designer Pininfarina.
Bollore and Renault will also work together to carry out feasibility studies on a new model of electric car, something absent from the Peugeot deal.
Bollore's Bluecar has become a common sight in Paris under the "Autolib" self-service electric car hire programme, and similar systems have been launched in Lyon, Bordeaux, London and Indianapolis.
Vincent Bollore, the 63-year old Breton billionaire, created the Bluecar to prove the efficacy of his group's solid-state LMP batteries. But other players in the auto industry are betting on a different technology known as lithium ion batteries.
A spokesman for Bollore said the group could seek to sign partnerships with additional car makers outside France to expand production and availability of its electric cars.
