PSA-GM joint vehicle programs will use French carmaker's platforms
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Under their joint venture, PSA CEO Philippe Varin, right, and GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky said Thursday that future generations of small cars, such as the Opel Corsa and Citroen C3, will be based on a PSA platform. Photo credit: BLOOMBERG |
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BRUSSELS (Reuters) -- General Motors and alliance partner PSA/Peugeot-Citroen will build all three planned joint vehicle programs on the French automaker's platforms, the companies said today.
PSA CEO Philippe Varin and GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky presented more details of their cooperation plans at a press conference in Brussels. The automakers last year unveiled a broad-based partnership to share development costs and cut European losses.
A future generation of small cars such as the Opel Corsa and Citroen C3 will be based on a PSA vehicle platform, the companies said in a press release.
PSA will also develop a family of minivans/crossovers to replace its Peugeot 3008 and the Opel Zafira, while GM will draw up successors to the Opel Meriva, Citroen C3 Picasso minivans and Peugeot 2008 crossover. Both vehicle categories will use PSA platforms.
The first vehicles from the shared development programs are due in 2016.
The automakers did not give any details of production locations or investment in the new models. The companies have "nothing to announce" about any joint car manufacturing, Girsky said, reiterating that Opel "is not for sale."
A component-supply agreement, which the companies said today has met antitrust conditions, will be a "cornerstone" of the alliance, Girsky said.
Girsky and Varin said today that the partnership should have no effects on jobs at their operations in Germany and France.
The alliance will yield a total $2 billion for the partners in annual cost savings and sales improvements over five years, Varin said in December.
GM and PSA are looking at a possible fourth platform for fuel-efficient cars, and they're continuing to consider ways to expand cooperation to growing vehicle markets, such as South America and Russia, Varin said today.
GM, whose European division has racked up $17.3 billion in losses since 1999, said on Jan. 22 that it may close Opel's auto factory in Bochum, Germany, two years earlier than planned as the European auto market shrinks for a sixth straight year. The U.S. carmaker became PSA's second-largest shareholder in March 2012 with the purchase of a 7 percent stake for 320 million euros.
The first-half net loss at PSA in 2012 amounted to 819 million euros ($1.09 billion). The Paris-based company since then has announced plans to shutter its car plant in nearby Aulnay by 2014 and reduce its French automotive workforce by 17 percent.
Bloomberg contributed to this report
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