Peugeot pulls out of welfare
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• Peugeot Talbot is negotiating the sale of its tri-axle welfare minibus business to TM) (West Bromwich) so that it can concentrate on its mainstream van manufacturing.
Since it began production of the tri-axles two years ago Peugeot Talbot built nearly 600 Pullmans and Freeways; the Freeway has won 44% of the welfare vehicle market which accounts for up to 200 units a year.
Now Peugeot Talbot believes the business has reached a point where it would best develop with a specialist manufacturer. It plans to devote its Stoke factory to van production, but for the next five years it will continue to supply -rBp with the Talbot Express chassis, engine and gearbox assemblies which are the basis of the tri-axle conversion.
TBP, which is primarily a commercial vehicle component supplier, plans to open a production plant in the Birmingham area by the end of this year. Chairman John Turner says the venture is a "natural extension to current business activities".