GM, PSA to Detail Platform-Sharing Plan by Year-End

General Motors Co. and PSA Peugeot Citroen expect to decide by the end of this year how they will share vehicle architectures, Karl-Friedrich Stracke, CEO of GM's Opel unit, tells the Automotive News Europe Congress.

The two companies, which formed an alliance in February, said at the time they expect to develop at least four small and midsize vehicle platforms by 2016.

New reports have speculated that the next-generation Opel Zafira MPV will be built at a PSA plant. In return, the reports say, Opel would produce the next version of the Citroen C5 midsize car at its factory in Russelsheim, Germany.

Stracke says GM will maintain its investment in new Opel products despite the auto slump in Europe. He also says Opel has scrapped plans to move its namesake brand upmarket and will instead lower prices to help regain its mass-market customer base.