PSA Peugeot Citroen chief executive officer Jean-Martin Folz has laid the cornerstone for the group's new factory in Slovakia.

Located at Trnava, the ceremony was attended by Slovak prime minister Mikulas Dzurinda, Trnava's Mayor Stefan Bosnak and several hundred guests.

The plant extends PSA Peugeot Citroen's production base in Europe and will manufacture small vehicles from 2006. The company said the facility moves its manufacturing resources closer to markets where sales are expanding rapidly.

PSA Peugeot Citroen's market share in the six central European countries – Croatia, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia – totalled 13.6% at the end of March, compared with a 5% share five years earlier.