Toyota Peugeot Citroen Automobile (TPCA) has held a ceremony today marking the official opening of its plant in Kolín, 37 miles east of Prague.

TPCA is jointly owned by PSA Peugeot Citro e n and Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), and for the first time today the public and the media were able to visit TPCA’s brand new plant, which produces three, all-new small cars on a common platform: the Citro e n C1, the Peugeot 107 and the Toyota Aygo.

Czech prime minister Jiri Paroubek, Czech vice prime minister Martin Jahn, mayor of Kolin Miroslav Kaisler, PSA Peugeot Citro e n CEO Jean-Martin Folz and TMC president Fujio Cho, among others, attended the event.

The total investment, including research/development and business start-up costs, is estimated at approximately €1.3bn (£881m). The project is expected to directly create 3,000 jobs. The plant has an annual capacity of 300,000 units.