PSA credit rating cut on Europe recovery doubts

April 11, 2013 10:04 CET
PSA/Peugeot-Citroen's credit rating was cut one step to four levels below investment grade by Moody's Investors Service, which said a contraction in Europe's car market will put at risk the automaker's plans to restore cash flow.... Read More »

 

PSA sells BNP stake for 177 million euros to boost financing

March 15, 2013 06:01 CET
PSA sold its stake in French bank BNP Paribas for about 177 million euros ($229 million) to boost financing as part of a restructuring at Europe's second-largest carmaker.... Read More »

 

PSA streamlines top management after two executives step down

March 12, 2013 18:02 CET
PSA/Peugeot Citroen has streamlined its management board after brands director Frederic Saint Geours and r&d chief Guillaume Faury left their posts. Saint Geours will stay on with PSA as an advisor to CEO Philippe Varin, but Faury is leaving the automaker to become CEO of Eurocopter.... Read More »

 

PSA launches new brand strategy for Peugeot and Citroen

March 12, 2013 06:01 CET
PSA aims to shift the positioning of its two brands further apart, although analysts are skeptical of the move. Peugeot and Citroen cars chase a very similar customer base, which has been a problem for the French automaker for a long time. Presenting the automaker's 2012 financial results last month, CEO Philippe Varin admitted: “Our brands are too close.”... Read More »

 

Automaker chiefs urge end to European austerity

March 6, 2013 09:49 CET
Automakers joined growing opposition to Europe's austerity measures. Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn urged government spending to revive the region's anemic sales, which he forecast won't recover for another three years.... Read More »

 

PAUL MCVEIGH

Three words describe PSA's new brand strategy

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 15, 2013
CEO Philippe Varin said PSA's latest product strategy can be summarized in three words for each brand and subbrand.... Read More »

 

PSA to shift Peugeot brand upscale in bid to return to profit

1:57 am U.S. ET | Feb. 13, 2013
PSA laid out plans to move its namesake Peugeot brand upscale to help the automaker return to profit after the company posted a record 5 billion euro ($6.73 billion) net loss for 2012.... Read More »

 

PSA will move Peugeot brand upscale in bid to return to profit

Feb. 13, 2013 07:57 CET
PSA laid out plans to move its namesake Peugeot brand upscale to help the automaker return to profit after the company posted a record 5 billion euro ($6.73 billion) net loss for 2012.... Read More »

 

PSA-GM joint vehicle programs will use French carmaker's platforms

Jan. 24, 2013 12:12 CET
General Motors and PSA will build joint vehicle programs using underpinnings from the French automaker. The first vehicles from the tie-up are due in 2016.... Read More »

 

PSA to work on efficiency gains at French factories

Jan. 18, 2013 06:01 CET
PSA plans to negotiate an accord with unions in the next few months to permit more flexible work conditions at its French factories as part of the effort to turn around the money-losing carmaker.... Read More »

 

10 things to watch in 2013

Jan. 10, 2013 06:01 CET
No one expects the European car market to be a source of good news this year, especially for volume brands. Optimists predict flat sales while pessimists foresee a decline of up to 5 percent. Here are 10 stories to watch in 2013..... Read More »

 

Tata denies report on alliance talks with PSA

Nov. 14, 2012 13:14 CET
Tata denied a report on Wednesday that it is in talks to set up an alliance with PSA. "That is absolutely incorrect," Tata spokesman Debasis Ray told Reuters. Citing unnamed company sources, Germany's Manager Magazin reported Wednesday that PSA CEO Philippe Varin is looking for an alternative should his company's planned alliance with GM collapse.... Read More »

 

Marchionne denies proposing combination of Fiat, Opel and PSA

Oct. 31, 2012 13:36 CET
Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne denied a report that he approached PSA and General Motors Co. earlier this month about a pan-European combination that would leapfrog Volkswagen as the region's largest automaker.... Read More »

 

Europe hit by biggest car sales drop in almost 2 years

Oct. 16, 2012 10:04 CET
European new-car sales plunged the most in almost two years, with Renault and Fiat posting the steepest declines, as the region's sovereign-debt crisis led to reduced demand in Germany, its largest economy.... Read More »

 

Varin says PSA job cuts are an 'internal matter'

Oct. 9, 2012 09:23 CET
PSA's restructuring is an "internal matter," the French automaker's CEO told reporters during a factory visit by industry minister Arnaud Montebourg. Philippe Varin's comment was a rebuff for Montebourg who had said he would wring concessions from the carmaker in talks on its restructuring plans.... Read More »

 

French minister: PSA should cut in Spain, not just in France

Sept. 13, 2012 14:40 CET
France's industry ministry is pressing the country's leading carmaker PSA to limit the impact of a domestic restructuring set to claim 8,000 jobs, by shifting part of the cuts burden to Spain.... Read More »

 

Hollande government sees PSA job cuts as 'inevitable'

Sept. 12, 2012 09:04 CET
For French President Francois Hollande's government, PSA's decision to close a factory and eliminate jobs has gone from "unacceptable" two months ago to "inevitable" now.... Read More »

 

Peugeot dropped from CAC 40 as value dwindles

Sept. 7, 2012 09:49 CET
PSA/Peugeot-Citroen will be removed from France's leading stock index after its shares declined more than 60 percent in the last 12 months.... Read More »

 

NEWS ANALYSIS

PSA must prepare for a tough fight over French plant closure

Aug. 15, 2012 09:57 CET
Within hours of an announcement to close a PSA plant near Paris, the first car factory closure in France in 20 years, the automaker's unions went on the attack, with one union likening themselves to a ''political bomb'' ready to detonate. The move is in stark contrast to the reaction of U.S. unions four years ago after a automakers there slashed production capacity in exchange for government assistance.... Read More »

 

French government to probe PSA's job cuts

Aug. 10, 2012 09:48 CET
The French government has appointed a special advisor to probe PSA's plans to eliminate 8,000 jobs and close a car plant in France. The probe will determine whether the government believes PSA's restructuring plan is necessary and whether the job cuts can be avoided.... Read More »

 

PSA cut by 3 main ratings services due to cash burn

July 26, 2012 09:34 CET
PSA was lowered to two levels below investment grade by all three main rating services over the automotive division's widening losses and continued cash burn.... Read More »

 

PSA's problems grow while VW's profits soar

July 24, 2012 08:19 CET
When PSA reports earnings tomorrow, it's likely to show deepening losses as European new-car sales plunge. The decline will be magnified the following day when VW Group is expected to post record profits, the result of years of expansion outside the region and investments in Audi.... Read More »

 

DOUGLAS A. BOLDUC

VW Group has rivals by the throat – don't expect any mercy

12:01 am U.S. ET | July 23, 2012
How has VW Group been able to boost its western European market share to 23.8 percent after five months this year from 18.1 percent in 2004? Rival automakers and market watchers say the increase has been fueled by massive Chinese profits.... Read More »

 

French minister said to want PSA CEO Varin to keep job, revise plan

July 23, 2012 09:19 CET
French Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg wants PSA CEO Philippe Varin to remain at the helm of the carmaker and to rework a plan for its revival. Montebourg told Varin of his demands when they met for two hours last week in Paris to discuss PSA's plan to shut a French factory, a government official said.... Read More »

 

PSA weakened by gov't attacks, chairman tells paper

July 20, 2012 06:01 CET
Government criticism of PSA's planned cutbacks have weakened the French automaker and even left it vulnerable to hostile takeover bids, Chairman Thierry Peugeot said in an interview with a French newspaper.... Read More »