If you haven’t already heard, the PSA Group - which we outwardly know to be the collective home of French automakers Peugeot, Citroen and their premium offshoot DS - is reported to be in talks with GM to acquire their European division which controls Opel and Vauxhall.
To allay some concerns about the possibility of future Holden Astras and Insignias being amalgamated as mere siblings of future Peugeot or Citroens, Carlos Tavares is insistent that both entities will be kept independent should the Group move to acquire those dollar-bleeding brands from General Motors, according to a report from Automotive News.
He is also open to the possibility of keeping the current management team and structure intact while also leaving Opel a strictly German automaker, with PSA supplying some design and technical expertise, funding, and guidance.
Representatives from both companies, including GM CEO Mary Barra and President Dan Ammann, have been speaking with the German government to assure them that a possible deal will not lead to job losses for those currently employed within the country due the kind streamlining process that is common following these types of brand assimilation.
Tavares is also on the cards to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and following that plans to have some face time with a number of Opel’s major German stakeholders to hear their concerns as well.
In many ways, what PSA seems to be aiming for in its pursuit of Opel and Vauxhall away from GM is an alliance similar to that of fellow French manufacturer Renault and Japanese automaker Nissan or Geely with Volvo in that the interference between either party is minimal while trying to build on each’s own strengths.
In a memo which Barra wrote to employees during her visit to the Opel headquarters in Ruesselsheim, near Frankfurt, co-signed by Opel CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann, she said the tie-up would both PSA and Opel "in a position to improve their standing in the fast-changing European market.”
Talks are still ongoing and many factors have to be addressed for all parties to be thoroughly satisfied with the terms, though it’s strongly hinted that they plan to announce it officially prior to the upcoming Geneva Motor Show in early March, according to the Financial Times.
