PSA to Provide Platforms for Venture with GM

PSA Peugeot Citroen SA will provide the platforms that carry B- and C-segment vehicles being developed with General Motors Co. under the partnership the two carmakers launched 11 months ago.

GM will take the lead in developing a B-segment MPV that will be marketed separately by each partner. The companies will co-develop C-segment MPVs for GM's Opel/Vauxhall unit and PSA's Peugeot brand. The B- and C- platforms will carry Opel's next-generation Meriva and Zafira MPVs, respectively, according to British enthusiast magazine Autocar.

The partners also have finalized plans to co-develop a low-emission B-segment platform for next-generation vehicles that each company will sell in Europe and elsewhere.

GM and PSA say they also have received regulatory approvals to set up a joint purchasing operation in Europe. An unnamed GM executive will head that effort over the next 12 months. After that, the organization will be headed by a vice president and a deputy vice president of purchasing. Each company will provide one of those executives on a revolving basis.

The partners confirm they plan to develop a family of next-generation three-cylinder gasoline engines derived from PSA's "EB" powerplants. They also confirm interest in expanding with unspecified projects into such growth markets as Russia and Latin America.