MORE than one million cars equipped with a diesel particulate filter system that slashes emissions have now been built by PSA Peugeot Citroen.

Introduced as a world first in May 2000 on the Peugeot 607, PSA Peugeot Citroen's patented DPFS has been gradually deployed on Peugeot and Citroen models in all segments.

Today, it is available on nine model families: the Peugeot 206, 307, 407, 607 and 807, and the Citroen C4, C5, C8 and Xsara Picasso.

The gradual increase in production enabled the group to celebrate the 500,000th car fitted with DPFS in June 2003.

Since then, a major increase in use meant it only took 18 months to reach one million vehicles fitted with particulate filters. PSA Peugeot Citroen claims to be the only carmaker in the world to mass-market the technology.

By sharply curbing pollutant emissions, particularly soot and particulates, DPFS-equipped HDi diesels are some of the world's cleanest internal combustion engines.

The firm said DPFS will continue to be extended to other Peugeot and Citroen models in the years to come.