Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile Company Ltd. started building its third assembly plant in China on Wednesday in central Hubei province in a bid to meet rising demand in the world' s largest auto market.

The plant will be fully operational in 2015 with an annual production capacity of 300,000 units, said Qiu Xiandong, a deputy general manager of the fifty-fifty joint venture between major Chinese carmaker Dongfeng Motor Corp. and French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen.

The project's first-phase, with an annual capacity of 150,000 units, is expected to begin operating in September 2013, Qiu said.

Its two existing plants have a combined annual capacity of 450,000 units.

The new plant in Wuhan, capital of Hubei, will mainly launch energy-saving and new energy vehicles at the same pace as PSA Peugeot Citroen's European plants, Qiu said.

Last year, Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen set a target of having a market share of five percent with annual sales of 750,000 units.

Last year, its sales exceeded 370,000 units, sharply higher than the 270,000 units in 2009.