If PSA's forecasts are accurate, it will be the first time Peugeot will sell more units in a single country outside of France for a model that is available in Europe.

PSA says China will be the largest market for the 508 as the French carmaker seeks to boost its sales outside of Europe.

Of the 200,000 global sales forecast for the 508 in 2012, PSA expects 65,000 to be in China and 38,000 in France, a Peugeot spokesman told Automotive News Europe at the 508's press launch here.

The 508 will be the latest entrant in the mid-sized car market, which accounts for roughly 25 percent of all cars sold in China, the spokesman said.

While Europe will get sedan and station wagon variants of the 508, only the sedan version will be sold in China because of weak demand for wagons in China.

The 508 replaces two slow-selling Peugeot cars -- the 407 mid-sized car and the 607 large sedan.

The 508 will debut in various markets in the coming months.

PSA will produce two-thirds of its 508s in Rennes, France, while the rest will be produced in Wuhan, China.

China is rapidly emerging as a key market for PSA. The French carmaker expects to see double-digit sales growth in the country this year. In 2010, PSA's sales in China increased 38 percent to 375,600 units.