Opel has dismissed a French newspaper report that quoted government officials as saying PSA Peugeot Citroën may buy the General Motors subsidiary, says Automotive News Europe.
The report, which was published on the website of the Le Monde daily, added that the Opel-PSA alliance would be capable of challenging Volkswagen’s market dominance in Europe, citing French finance ministry officials and those within President Francois Hollande’s inner circle.
An Opel spokesman told Automotive News Europe that the report was nothing but “pure speculation.”
In February 2012, PSA and Opel’s parent company GM formed an alliance that aimed to yield annual cost savings of US$2 billion (RM6.04 billion) within five years, equally split between them. This saw GM pay, says Automotive News Europe, €320 million (RM1.28 billion) for a 7% stake in PSA.
Under the deal, PSA and GM agreed to share vehicle platforms, components and modules, create a global purchasing joint venture and work together to develop vehicles.
Automotive News Europe reports, citing figures from industry organisation ACEA, that PSA’s market share in the EU and EFTA nations dropped from 12.5% to 11.7% from January to November last year. In the same period, Opel’s share fell from 7.3% to 6.7%. Volkswagen’s, however, rose from 23.3% to 24.9%.
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PSA themselves are losing money like hell and in need of a French Government bailout. Opel is better off if sold to another buyer.
PSA’s biggest foreign market was Iran. If they don’t want to sell cars there any more (EU-boykott against Iran), then it’s their problem.