Toyota and PSA renew working partnership

That oddest of bedfellows – Toyota and PSA – are at it again. The giant Japanese brand and the parent company of Peugeot and Citroen have today announced a joint-venture project to develop a mid-size van that will be sold in Europe badged appropriately for each of the three brands.

It's not exactly new territory, PSA and Toyota having entered into a joint venture previously to build three versions of the one light hatch – respectively the Citroen C1, Peugeot 108 (nee 107) and Toyota Aygo (pictured).

This joint venture is actually a continuation of an existing agreement, signed back in 2012. The first fruits of that agreement were the first-generation Toyota PROACE, a badge-engineered version of the Peugeot Expert and Citroen Jumpy.

The new model will continue to be named the PROACE for Toyota, but the Citroen will be the SPACETOURER and Peugeot's version will be the TRAVELLER.

According to a press release issued today by PSA, the core vehicle will spawn commercial, light bus and people-mover variants. Local PSA importer Sime Darby is considering the introduction of the Peugeot and Citroen variants to the Australian market.

All three vehicles will be previewed at the Geneva motor show in March, prior to going during the second quarter. They will be built at PSA Peugeot Citroën's plant of Sevelnord, in Valenciennes, France. Toyota's involvement in the project extended to tooling-up funding and R&D.

"We are delighted to present today these three new vehicles, the result of the co-operation with Toyota Motor Europe. This agreement has enabled us to develop a new and efficient vehicle platform, offering our customers around the world modern products which are particularly competitive in their segment," said Patrice Lucas, PSA Peugeot Citroën Head of Programme and Strategy.

"We're very pleased that the collaboration we started in 2012 with PSA Peugeot Citroën is now delivering a brand new generation Toyota PROACE," said Toyota Motor Europe President and CEO Johan van Zyl.

"Both teams worked very hard together and at individual brand level and I am confident that our distinctive new van with all its variants will strengthen the Toyota light commercial vehicle offer in Europe. The new PROACE will complement the range of solid and durable vehicles customers are expecting from Toyota."