Peugeot Family Says Opel Deal Will Enable PSA to Expand Worldwide

PSA Group’s purchase of General Motors Co.’s Opel unit will give the French carmaker the European production base it needs to expand globally.

So say leaders of the Peugeot family, which controls 22% of PSA’s voting rights. PSA strategy committee chair Robert Peugeot tells Welt am Sonntag that the Opel deal will boost PSA’s capacity in Europe to more than 3 million units.

He says that level is critical to give the company sufficient economies of scale to enable worldwide expansion. He also contends there is very little market-by-market overlap in competition between Opel and PSA’s Citroen and Peugeot brands.

Robert’s cousin Jean-Philippe Peugeot tells the newspaper PSA aim is to “conquer the rest of the world step by step.” He says the Peugeot family had been interested in “getting loser to Opel” even before the two companies agreed in 2012 to collaborate on car development.