The logistics subsidiary of PSA Peugeot Citroën, Gefco, will begin automotive logistics operations in Bulgaria from this September and establish relations with current and prospective suppliers as well as small- and medium-size transport firms in the country.
Gefco Bulgaria will be based in the capital Sophia and will be headed by managing director, Alexsander Raczynski, who has been part of Gefco's team since 2005.
The latest announcement comes as Gefco sees turnover in Central and Eastern Europe up by 38%. The company has said it is also setting up a division in Kazakhstan.
Initially the new division will focus on vehicle logistics for Citroën and Peugeot dealers.
Bulgaria remains a very small market for Peugeot Citroën vehicles at the moment but sales have grown by 60% since last year, with figures for the first six months of 2011 at 1,484, up from 929 over the same period in 2010.
Added to this, Gefco has plans to expand its remit to include services for other car dealers. Alexsander Raczynski told Automotive Logistics that the division will also offer overland transport services between Bulgaria and Germany, France and Turkey, and plans to launch overseas activity in the future.
“Bulgaria’s geographical position between the strongly established Gefco bases in Romania and Turkey will enable close cooperation between the companies and optimize the benefits of the international Gefco network to generate sales in different logistics schemes,” he said. “In addition, Gefco Bulgaria transporters will be well-placed to facilitate vehicle logistics flows throughout Europe.”
Gefco has also recently announced the set up of new offices for automotive in Estonia and Lithuania in northern Europe.
•In other news, Gefco has announced it will be expanding activity at the Survilliers facility in northern France where groupage and handling services are carried out for a range of industries including automotive.
The 30,000-m2 site currently handles parts imports from 12 regions across Asia and distributes them to client manufacturing facilities, as well as covering sea-and-air freight imports and exports for France, Belgium, Spain, Morocco and Tunisia. Gefco has plans to include services for Germany in the near future.
The site will also shortly be extending its groupage activities to include the Middle East, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa and India.
Philippe Maupin, head of the Overseas Sea Activity at Gefco, said: “The geographical location of Survilliers allows us to respond to more requests, propose competitive pricing for deliveries to northern and eastern France, and improve the fill rate of our containers.”
