Carlos Gomes, head of Latin America for PSA Peugeot Citroen, made the announcement to President Mauricio Macri during a meeting, the government said in a statement.

The plant is already located in the suburbs of Buenos Aires and the investment will enable it to expand production.

Macri has been betting on investment to pull Argentina's economy out of recession, but a year into his term growth is still elusive.

Data released on Thursday did show automobile production grew 3.3 percent in November from a year earlier, after falling for various months amid recession at home and in neighbouring Brazil.

Exports also rose 15.8 percent from November 2015, the data from the Association of Automobile Manufacturers (Adefa) said.

(Reporting by Caroline Stauffer; Editing by Grant McCool and Bill Trott)