Earlier this month, Groupe PSA became the second largest car manufacturer in Europe following its purchase of General Motors’ European operations through the acquisition of Opel and Vauxhall brands in a US$2.3 billion deal.
According to family shareholder Jean-Philippe Peugeot, the transaction will offer the French automaker greater scale in its pursuit of global expansion, Reuters reports. Speaking to German newspaper Welt am Sonntag in a joint interview with his cousin Robert Peugeot, Jean-Philippe Peugeot said the move will “allow the group to conquer the rest of the world step by step.”
He said that a PSA-Opel deal had been under deliberated upon even before 2012, when GM and Peugeot inked a deal to jointly develop some passenger car models, but the timing wasn’t right back then.
Robert Peugeot, chairman of PSA’s strategy committee, said the Opel/Vauxhall purchase will help the automaker obtain economies of scale by being able to manufacture three million vehicles in one core market. “All large carmakers have a volume of three million cars in one important market,” he explained.
He added that having Opel and Vauxhall in its brand portfolio will not undermine sales of Peugeot and Citroen models, stating that there was very little cannibalisation between the brands.
He said that Opel is strong in markets where PSA isn’t, citing the example of Germany, where Opel sells more cars than Peugeot, DS and Citroen combined. Meanwhile, Vauxhall sells more cars in the US than all three French brands altogether.
The group’s plans for expansion is also taking a global flavour. It has submitted a bid for a strategic partnership with Proton, announcing last month it was in talks with the Malaysian carmaker for a deal. It is reportedly going up against China’s Zhejiang Geely to become Proton’s partner, but a report early this month said that the Chinese automaker may pull out of negotiations.
Should PSA secure the partnership, it will offer access to Proton’s underutilised facilities to serve as a production and export base. This will help support PSA’s goal of expanding its presence in Southeast Asia (Thailand and Indonesia) – an area where where it has no manufacturing base – as well as other emerging markets.
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P1 wake up!
Someone please sack the CEO. I really think P1 needs a really enthusiastic business driven CEO.
I don’t know what’s going in their management, but I can see from the news that the CEO is not committed enough to bring P1 up. I don’t see any effective actions taken.
TERHEGEH HEGEH kind of attitude, perfect example; when Geely decided they may pull out due P1’s unclear direction.
Seriously, let a giant corp takeover or sack the CEO and restructure the entire P1 management team.
It is obvious enough the CEO and management is not doing well and it is like a plague for Malaysia. Please change before it gets worse.
Keep calm & buy Jepunis.
Proton lost the deal with Geely cause Proton refuse the terms to keep all Proton workers. But how can Geely keep all Proton workers? 60,000 workers make 72,000 cars in 1 year. That is like 1 car for 1 person ratio in one year.
Kahwin P1 & P2. period
I’ll say Proton should go for PSA.
french flair + german reliability + msian budget manufacturing = Winner
I’ve been saying this long time ago..each brands have their distinctive values (incl. Proton)..you never know maybe later Lotus will take over brand name from Peugeot for Le Mans 24Hours race & Peugeot will focus more on Rally..anything can happen..
One problem though… Vauxhall doesn’t sell cars in the US. Vauxhall is a UK-exclusive brand.
but remember GM Buick..is from Vauxhall..
Looks like the PSA group is doing what VW is doing & ie to buy over/marry every available mother of Good offspring in order to be No1. The name of the game is numbers & Proton only sell 100,000 plus if that is not too ambitious.
I must say going by the numbers, it does NOT look promising for P1. If Geely does pull out, P1 will be back to square 1 & that is Not good for the paying taxes Rakyat. What do U guys think ??!
This old maid has tarik harga before during VW proposal. Today still try to act coy but forget sudah old maid stuck with bad habits. Does she think the 2 suitors are ignorant to her past & bad habits? The suitors also have other options (Thailand, Indonesia) on standby if this bride try to tarik harga again. This old maid best sedar diri & stop being so selfish and stubborn.
Not really. It be bad for P1 shareholders and employees but ultimately its a private concern which had a loan from Gov. Evaluation of P1 is much higher than 1.5B, of which will be used to payback if P1 kolos shop.
That is the problem.
P1 thinks its value is > 1.5 bil but the real value is zero. Already at a dead end and still think it has value? Assets & land has value but the P1 branding has nothing. Don’t berlajak like war lords demanding the sun & the moon. Time for drastic actions & time to start chopping beginning from the top.
psa or geely will not happen for P1. very very sure!
What kind of business deal that write a check book but has no say on the business ? Better just say thank you for donation. Keep dreaming !!!!
i prefer proton close deal with PSA cause of reputation, brand, design and engine technology.. and PSA got proton factory facilities, New market for their cars, factory to produce parts more cheaper and Lotus technology for all their car brand.