FRANKFURT -- PSA Group's acquisition of Opel gives the French automaker greater scale to pursue global expansion plans, family shareholder Jean-Philippe Peugeot told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.
Earlier this month, PSA agreed to buy Germany-based Opel and its Vauxhall UK division from General Motors in a deal valuing the business at 2.2 billion euros ($2.3 billion).
"This will allow the group to conquer the rest of the world step by step. This remains an important goal for PSA," Jean-Philippe Peugeot said in a joint interview with his cousin Robert Peugeot.
The Peugeot family clan controls 22.19 percent of PSA Group's voting rights, and 13.68 percent of the company's capital. China's Dongfeng Motor and the French government each have 13.68 percent stakes.
Although there are larger automotive companies measured by absolute annual sales, what counts is that you have at least three million vehicles produced in one core market to get real economies of scale, Robert Peugeot, who is chairman of PSA Group's strategy committee, told the paper.
"All large carmakers have a volume of three million cars in one important market," he said, explaining that the purchase of Opel will help PSA Group in this respect.
Although the combination of the German and French carmakers increases the group's overall exposure to Europe, the brands remain complementary.
"Opel is strong in markets where PSA is not so strong," Robert Peugeot said, explaining that Opel sells more cars in Germany than Peugeot, DS and Citroen combined, while Vauxhall sells more cars in Great Britain than all of PSA's brands together.
"There is very little cannibalization between the brands," Robert Peugeot said.
