gm Vauxhall/Opel 'to merge with Peugeot-Citroen'

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Vauxhall/Opel 'to merge with Peugeot-Citroen'

New joint venture company could see mega-merger of four brands

General Motor?s European division could be merged with Peugeot-Citroen, according to media reports emerging from France. The reports say that Vauxhall-Opel would be merged into a new joint venture company with Peugeot-Citroen. GM would own a 30 per cent stake in the joint venture and would inject ?6.2 billion for future product development.

According to Automotive News Europe, this tentative plan is said to have been one of a number of ideas being considered by the management teams of PSA and GM, including selling Opel outright to PSA or GM buying PSA?s automotive division.

Neither GM or PSA would comment on the leaks.

At the moment, the alliance between GM Europe and PSA has centred on a range of future models, including replacements for the Insignia and C5/408, a rival for Renault?s budget Dacia line-up, a super-economy supermini and a range of compact SUVs.

Although some are speculating that the French Government might resist the idea of a PSA-GME joint-venture, a 70 per cent controlling stake for the French and the fact that this deal may be the only way of saving PSA from collapsing in the medium term could prove the decisive factors.

Both GM Europe and PSA are losing huge amounts of money in the face of the downturn in the European market, a situation driven by their under-utilised factories and the need to discount showroom prices. GM Europe is expected to lose nearly a ?1bn in 2012, a situation which is affecting the health of GM globally. PSA is said to be burning ?161 million in cash each month.

Merging the four mass-market brands would, eventually, pay dividends by allowing them to build much larger numbers of cars on each platform, saving significant money on product development costs and by running the JV factories at above 85 per cent capacity.

The downsides are that more than one factory in any PSA-GM alliance would have to close - a concern for the UK?s Ellesmere Port plant which recently got the contract to produce the 2015 Astra. Also, the merging of most models onto common platforms would take upwards of five years, time that PSA and GME might not have in the current market conditions.

Dividing up the engineering work between France and Germany could prove controversial, although GM?s Russelsheim Engineering HQ could be fully retained by GM because it carries out work on global basis.

At this stage, the merger proposal is still at an outline stage, but if it does clear potential hurdles, it is unlikely to get the green light before the end of the year.

Source: Autocar

[tiagosilva29]

(...) a super-economy supermini (...)

That's... super.

[Nashy]

This is like mixing vomit and ****.

[thealexweb]

I can see the UK losing out here in terms of plants purely for political reasons.

[HawkMan]

crap + crap = more crap ?

[MightyJordan]

crap + crap = more crap ?

More like crap + good-looking mediocrity (my family's lived with a Citroen C3 Picasso for the last three years; changing to a Mercedes-Benz B-Class, but have to wait for them to catch up with the demand). Best case scenario is Vauxhall cars get slightly better. Worst case scenario is Peugeot and Citroen cars get dragged down to Vauxhall's level, meaning even more sales for Ford.

I can see the UK losing out here in terms of plants purely for political reasons.

Unfortunately, I agree there. The Ellesmere Port plant is safe for a few more years thanks to the new Astra, but that's about it. Thank god for Nissan though. They're really dedicated to the Sunderland plant; currently the Note, Juke, and Qashqai are built there, then next year, there'll also be the LEAF (there's also the Invitation, but that'll simply be the new Note).

[HawkMan]

Honestly while I consider them both crap, Opel ranks higher than Citroen/Peugeot.

[what]

Alternative headline...

Largest European consumers of cheap, tacky, rattle-tastic plastics to merge

[Glassed Silver]

Having grown up with Opel cars I'm quite sentimental about this.

Especially as Opel is at home in my state (Hessen)... :(

I don't want the brand or the engineering to go. :/

Glassed Silver:mac

[MightyJordan]

I don't want the brand or the engineering to go. :/

I doubt it will. If one of the four brands (Opel, Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroen) had to go, I'd bet on Vauxhall going. I personally wish there were less brands around, to be honest; I'm tired of seeing so many different badge-engineered cars. Opel/Vauxhall and Peugeot/Citroen (plus Toyota with one car) are just two examples. I wouldn't mind having the odd budget brand (like Dacia, which are Renault's budget brand), but having more than one from the same main brand (I'm looking at you, Volkswagen) is just ridiculous.

[Kami-]

I doubt it will. If one of the four brands (Opel, Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroen) had to go, I'd bet on Vauxhall going. I personally wish there were less brands around, to be honest; I'm tired of seeing so many different badge-engineered cars. Opel/Vauxhall and Peugeot/Citroen (plus Toyota with one car) are just two examples. I wouldn't mind having the odd budget brand (like Dacia, which are Renault's budget brand), but having more than one from the same main brand (I'm looking at you, Volkswagen) is just ridiculous.

Vauxhall & Opel are pretty much one and the same.

[MightyJordan]

Vauxhall & Opel are pretty much one and the same.

I know; Vauxhalls are simply rebadged Opels for the UK market, hence why I reckon they'd be the more likely brand to go..

[morphen]

Opel (& Vauxhall) are just plain boring, the have (nice to drive) cars, but they just hit me as cars for old people :-p

The Insignia looks like something that was modern in 2004-2005.

The Ampera on the other hand looks more aggressive and sporty, it actually seems to have some design lines from the old

Opel Calibra.

If we look to Australia and Holden; The Commodore and the Ute...

The Ute:

The Commodore:

both cars available with a 6.0l V8 360HP engines and RWD...

European cars are boring :(

[Glassed Silver]

[...]

European cars are boring :(

bwahahaha...

Sorry, but the majority of the amazing cars in this world are made here.

Glassed Silver:mac

[HawkMan]

Opel (& Vauxhall) are just plain boring, the have (nice to drive) cars, but they just hit me as cars for old people :-p

The Insignia looks like something that was modern in 2004-2005.

The Ampera on the other hand looks more aggressive and sporty, it actually seems to have some design lines from the old

Opel Calibra.

If we look to Australia and Holden; The Commodore and the Ute...

The Ute:

The Commodore:

both cars available with a 6.0l V8 360HP engines and RWD...

European cars are boring :(

Design wise, I'd pick a vectra over those boring wanna be America muscle cars. Quality wise, I'd stay away from all of them.

[cooky560 Veteran]

bwahahaha...

Sorry, but the majority of the amazing cars in this world are made here.

Glassed Silver:mac

I'd wager that all the best cars in the world are made in Europe.

-Super cars-

Ferrari (italy)

Lamborghini (Italy)

Noble (UK)

AMG (Germany)

Jaguar (UK)

Aston Martin (UK)

Morgan (UK)

Caterham (UK)

Porsche (Germany)

-Hyper Cars-

Lamborghini (Italy)

Aerial (UK)

Koenigsegg (Sweden)

Pagini (Italy)

-Executive Cars-

BMW (Germany)

Mercedes (Germany)

Audi (Germany)

Jaguar (UK)

Aston Martin (UK)

Alfa Romeo (Italy)

Range Rover (UK)

Saab (Sweden)

Bentley (UK)

Rolls Royce (UK)

-Practical Cars-

Land Rover (UK)

Vauxhall (Zafira) (Germany? maybe)

-Fun Cars-

New Mini (Germany / UK)

Mercedes (Germany)

Fiat (Italy)

Alfa Romeo (Italy)

-Farming Vehicles-

Land Rover (UK)

Marshall (UK)

FIeld Marshall (UK)

Sure ford make some passable cars, but most the stuff that US car makers make is tat.

http://www.neowin.ne...3-under-100000/ the US doesn't even enter the list

[HawkMan]

You miseed majorly on practical. You missed on Fun and you missed on Farming.

[MightyJordan]

You miseed majorly on practical. You missed on Fun and you missed on Farming.

Can't comment on the Farming section, but definitely agree on Practical and Fun.

Practical

Citroen/Peugeot (France)

Volvo (Sweden)

Skoda (Czech Republic/Germany)

Seat (Spain/Germany)

Fun

Renault (France)

Volkswagen (Germany)

Porsche (Germany)

Lotus (UK)

Ariel (UK)

Caterham (UK)

BTW, Ariel don't make hypercars. ;)

[HawkMan]

You're both completely forgetting about Asian brands. or more specifically Japanese.

[+jamesyfx Subscriber²]

I think Citroen cars are getting quite a bit cooler lately, the DS3 is a nice looking car and it feels nice to be in. Same can't be said for Vauxhall though.. never really been keen on them.

[MightyJordan]

You're both completely forgetting about Asian brands. or more specifically Japanese.

I thought we were sticking with European brands? That's why I left them out. The Fun section would be a lot longer if you include the Asian brands (Nissan, Mazda, Toyota, Honda, Subaru, etc.)

I think Citroen cars are getting quite a bit cooler lately, the DS3 is a nice looking car and it feels nice to be in. Same can't be said for Vauxhall though.. never really been keen on them.

Funny thing, we actually had a DS3 as a courtesy car not too long ago while our C3 Picasso was in for its service. Definitely looks nice, but rides hard, the seat's too low down, and the front visibility was a bit iffy. Oh, and the interior is almost identical to the C3 Picasso (same ICE system), just with more shiny parts on the dashboard. :p

[HawkMan]

Well he was saying that all the (best) fun, sports, practical, farm and son on cars are from europe.

[Nashy]

More like crap + good-looking mediocrity (my family's lived with a Citroen C3 Picasso for the last three years; changing to a Mercedes-Benz B-Class, but have to wait for them to catch up with the demand). Best case scenario is Vauxhall cars get slightly better. Worst case scenario is Peugeot and Citroen cars get dragged down to Vauxhall's level, meaning even more sales for Ford.

Unfortunately, I agree there. The Ellesmere Port plant is safe for a few more years thanks to the new Astra, but that's about it. Thank god for Nissan though. They're really dedicated to the Sunderland plant; currently the Note, Juke, and Qashqai are built there, then next year, there'll also be the LEAF (there's also the Invitation, but that'll simply be the new Note).

In terms of reliability, both brands produce heaps of ****.

[Mando]

Vauxhall & Opel are pretty much one and the same.

yes but, for soem reason its always felt Opels were better..silly when you think about it, they are identical bar the brand badge hehe

[cooky560 Veteran]

Because owning a Vauxhall sort of makes you feel like it's going to be bad, despite the actual cars getting rid of that years ago :p