PEUGEOT has confirmed the possibility of Citroens being built at its Ryton factory, although demand for the new 206 means it will not happen in the foreseeable future. Confirmation this week of the possible closer links between Citroen and Peugeot reinforces statements made by the president of their parent company PSA, Jean-Martin Folz early in 1998 when he announced a new production strategy based on the radical reduction of platforms.

Industry sources suggest the new Citroen model of similar size to the Peugeot 206 will be built around the same T1 platform, making it logical for the two brands to be built alongside each other. Since last autumn the Citroen Saxo and Peugeot 106 have been in production at Citroen's plant at Aulnay, France. The rationalisation process is expected to leave three common platforms for each brand.

A Peugeot spokesman said: 'It is possible the platform rationalisation strategy would wash through to the UK. But at the moment all Ryton's capacity is taken up by the 206 and with new versions to be introduced this year the plant is going to be stretched as it is.'