THE Picasso has set a new record for Citroen by reaching the production lines less than two years after its styling was agreed by the company's management board. But the decision to build the car at Vigo has produced a substantial added bonus for Automobiles Citroen.

'Our total investment to bring the project here has been only FF2,350,000, which is relatively inexpensive for the return which is anticipated. It says a lot about the way we intend to proceed with our platform policy,' declared PSA Peugeot Citroen president Jean Martin Folz. 'Picasso shares more than 50% of common elements with the Xsara, which is also built here.

'But the industrial logic of our group is to try to use manufacturing tools to produce vehicles for both brands, and Vigo is a particularly good example of this. The fact that we produce the Berlingo, Partner and C15 vans here mean the paintshop is designed to accommodate taller vehicles. Because it is an MPV, the Picasso is taller than the traditional car - so it fits easily into the Vigo manufacturing system.

'Clearly, we would have needed to spend much more money to produce this new vehicle at another site.' Asked if it was likely that the Picasso concept could be adopted by Peugeot, he said: 'There could be a Peugeot variant if we find there is sufficient interest in this type of vehicle - but it would not look the same.'