WUHAN - French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen's Chinese joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Corp (DMC) opened a new plant on Tuesday in central China as part of its efforts to boost capacity and sales.

Located in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, the plant, the third for Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile Co Ltd (DPCA), has an initial capacity of 150,000 vehicles annually.

The plant's capacity will be doubled to 300,000 vehicles by 2016, when the second-phase project will be completed, bringing the company's total annual capacity to 750,000 vehicles. (DPCA already had two plants in Wuhan with a combined capacity of 450,000 units.)

Qiu Xiandong, general manager of DPCA, said the completion of the new plant is a crucial step in realizing the company's plan to double its sales from 2012 to 880,000 vehicles by 2015.

Qiu said the new plant will also provide important strategic support for the company's "leap development."

DPCA is scheduled to put at least 11 new models on the market within the next three years, and the Peugeot Citroen 4008 and a new energy vehicle will be assembled at the new plant, sources with the company said.

Statistics from the company show that its sales in the first half of the year reached 277,000 units, up 32.7 percent year on year. And the growth rate was three times the national average.