PSA Steps Up Plan to Re-Enter N. American Market

PSA Group has shortened its timetable for relaunching its Peugeot brand in North America.

Three years ago, CEO Carlos Tavares said PSA would return to the U.S.-Canada market in about 2026. Now he tells The Wall Street Journal that the company will begin exporting an array of models to the region as soon as 2022.

PSA exited the American market in 1991. Tavares attributes the shortened timetable for its return in part to positive feedback from consumer clinics in the U.S.

He also points out that the ability to move more quickly was aided by PSA’s acquisition of Opel from General Motors Co. in 2017. The purchase gave the French company a team of auto engineers already familiar with U.S. government regulations and specifications.

PSA plans a “relatively innovative” approach to marketing its vehicles in North America that will combine online selling with the ability of customers to conduct real-life test drives, the Journal notes.