Naza Deploys Robots on New Peugeot Line In Malaysia

Naza Automotive Mfg. is spending MYR30 million ($9.75 million) to install a robotic assembly line at its Malaysian plant as it prepares to build a new C-segment sedan.

The new assembly line is the first at the Naza plant in Gurun using robots to ensure quality consistency for the vehicle launching in the Malaysian market in the next few months.

In a news release announcing the assembly line, Peugeot says the new model is called T73. Previous media reports have said T73 is a codename for the existing 408 sedan.

Nasarudin Nasimuddin, Joint Executive Chairman-Naza Group, says the auto maker will build 60,000 units of the T73 over the next five years.

“Of the total volume produced, some 60% is targeted to be exported to right-hand-drive countries in ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) as well as markets outside the region,” he says in a statement.

The investment is part of Naza’s MYR714-million ($232 million) expansion and upgrading program that began in 2010 and is slated for completion by the end of 2015. This includes new-model introductions and research-and-development spending.

Naza has 1,000 employees. It began operations in 2004 with a MYR500 million ($162.5 million) facility that includes an assembly plant, a test track, office space, sites for vendors and suppliers, and staff accommodations on a 140-acre (57-ha) parcel of land.