GM, PSA to Unveil Platform-Sharing Plans by Year-End

General Motors Co. and PSA Peugeot Citroen expect to hammer out a plan by year-end to 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, have said 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. Opel is expected to make the next version of the Citroen C5 midsize car at its factory in Russelsheim, Germany.

GM won't reduce its investment in new products for Opel despite the European auto slump, according to Stracke. He notes that some of the company's key competitors are cutting product development spending. Fiat SpA announced last week that it was slashing its capital spending in Europe this year by €500 million and delaying several vehicle launches.

Separately, Opel, which has been trying to move its namesake brand upmarket, has reversed course and plans to lower its prices instead, according to Stracke. He says the company needs to return to its mass-market roots to regain its traditional customer base.