The PSA Group - who operate French car brands Peugeot, Citroen, and DS - are expected to reveal the final details of their planned deal with General Motors to acquire their European division, namely taking control of the Opel and Vauxhall marques, tonight.
A report by the New York Times cites a unnamed source that says that both parties will be announcing the details of the acquisition on Monday. Following this weekend reveal, a PSA spokesperson confirmed that it would hold a joint news conference with GM concerning the matter.
PSA’s improving and stronger vehicle line-up is a sharp contrast compared to its brush with bankruptcy a just few years ago, having the Opel brand under their wing would rocket them to an even more dominant position in the European automotive market by volume, with estimated numbers placing them in second place behind Volkswagen and their subsidiaries.
It would also allow General Motors to hand over a relatively costly arm of their business. Their European unit has been losing ground (consequently, money) to competitors for quite a while now, and GM would rather invest more in their North American market cars, making this exchange a win for both parties. That is, should the deal be negotiated well.
PSA and its CEO Carlos Tavares has said that it does not plan to turn Opel into a French brand, and wanting to keep its operational structure largely intact. Tavares admits to having a “high respect” for current Opel CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann and his team, managing to bring the ailing brand to a strong line-up of cars and nearing the brink of profitability, a threshold hampered by the unexpected fluctuation and fall of the British pound following the Brexit vote for the UK to leave the European Union.
“Opel needs help,” continued Tavares, “What we see today at Opel has a lot of similarities with what we were facing four years ago."
The PSA and GM joint press conference is expected to be held on Monday at 7.15pm local time (or 9.15am in Europe. A Reuters source reveals that a memo has been distributed to all employees calling for a company-wide town hall scheduled for 9.45am, half an hour after the proceedings are due to begin.
It’s still unclear how Holden will fare under this new arrangement, should it happen it’s expected. Prominent cars in the local stable are nearly unchanged versions of Opel models such as the Astra, and the incoming Commodore is essentially a rebadged Opel Insignia Grand Sport.
More on this as it develops.
