PSA/Peugeot-Citroen has appointed Maxime Picat as the managing director for its Peugeot brand effective October 1, 2012, replacing Vincent Rambaud. Prior to his appointment, Picat has been head of the Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile joint venture since 2011. Picat became a part of PSA in 1998 after graduating from Ecole des Mines de Paris with a degree in engineering. He then held several manufacturing posts at PSA's factories in Mulhouse and Sochaux, France, before being named as director of PSA's plant in Wuhanm China in 2007. He was then promoted as the deputy head of PSA's joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Corp. in 2008, and was made the head of the joint venture in 2011.
During his stint as the joint venture’s head, Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile has managed to more than double its sales. It was in sharp contrast to Peugeot’s fate in Europe, where its sales dropped 15 percent to 442,595 vehicles in the first half of 2012, even lower than the market decline of 6 percent overall, according to data from industry association ACEA.
Peugeot likewise suffered a 19 percent drop in sales in France in the first eight months of 2012 to just 253,749 units, according to French industry group CCFA. Rambaud’s exit, meanwhile is attributed to personal reasons. Rambaud took over as the managing director of the Peugeot brand in March 2010. Before that, Rambaud was director of PSA's Latin American unit. After joining PSA in 2002, Rambaud has worked in PSA's transportation and logistics unit, Gefco. He was then made in charge of PSA’s Mercosur business unit in 2007.
