Peugeot Citroen CEO says will build minicar with Toyota - magazine

French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen will continue to collaborate with Japan's Toyota <7203.T> in the minicar segment in Europe, PSA's chief executive told a German car magazine.

"Yes, the next generation will once again be jointly developed and produced in the Czech Republic," Philippe Varin said in an interview with Auto Motor und Sport.

Speculation among analysts and in the media about whether this and other partnerships would continue had arisen after the financially stretched French carmaker dissolved a components joint venture with BMW and ended an engine cooperation deal.

PSA has been scaling down partnerships with other carmakers since its alliance with General Motors .

The Citroen C1, the next generation of which is expected early next year, and Peugeot 107 are built on the same assembly line as Toyota's Aygo in Kolin, Czech Republic.

As of March of last year, the Toyota Peugeot Citroen Automobile (TPCA) joint venture had made more than 2 million vehicles, since starting production in February 2005.

The Kolin plant's capacity is roughly 300,000 vehicles a year.

(Reporting by Christiaan Hetzner; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)