For years, Renault-Nissan president Carlos Ghosn has predicted that the auto industry will need to consolidate, and that as a result we’ll be left with a small number of mega-manufacturers. His soothsaying now is looking rather accurate, with smaller automakers folding or being absorbed by larger ones, and even the big companies forming alliances. Not to be left standing without a seat when the music stops, General Motors inked a deal with PSA Peugeot Citroën in February of this year. GM’s German subsidiary, Opel, is crumbling; PSA Peugeot Citroën is so troubled that just yesterday the French government announced it would guarantee (acting as an insurance company, basically) $9 billion worth of loans for the French firm. It’s a match made in heaving, one might say. Today, GM and PSA Peugeot Citroën announced they would be collaborating on development of four vehicle platforms, with the first vehicles hitting production in 2016. Here’s what they’ve announced, and our take—that is, assuming GM doesn’t spin off Opel completely in the next four years.
A joint program for a compact-class multi-purpose van for Opel/Vauxhall and a compact-class crossover utility vehicle for the Peugeot brand
GM will get a small van that will compete in a big segment with vehicles like the Ford Transit Connect. European companies have had badge-engineered vans for decades, and the current Opel vans come from Renault and Fiat. No big deal. Peugeot needs a small crossover to replace its current offering, a rebadged Mitsubishi Outlander Sport. Both are important products, but why won’t Peugeot get the van?
A joint multi-purpose vehicle program for the small-car segment for Opel/Vauxhall and the Citroën brand
Again, a very sensible place for collaboration. Citroën practically invented the multi-purpose-vehicle, or MPV, segment in the late 1990s. MPVs still are popular in Europe, but have given up ground to small crossovers. A joint platform will lower development costs for both companies, providing a less-expensive route to a segment that’s important but not delivering blockbuster sales.
An upgraded low CO2 small-car segment platform to feed Opel/Vauxhall’s and PSA’s next generation of cars in Europe and other regions
Take note that GM is not saying this is a new joint program, but an evolution of something currently in use. We’d guess it’s the next generation of GM’s Gamma platform, currently used in the Sonic and underpinning the new Opel Adam. Opel can really benefit from Peugeot’s help on future compacts cars, as Peugeot’s historical strength has been selling small cars for even smaller prices. Small cars have been one of the hottest areas for tie-ups in the automotive world in the past few years: Nissan and Renault use a common platform for their compacts, the Ford Ka is a Fiat 500 under the skin, and the first fruit of the Fiat/Chrysler merger was the compact Dodge Dart.
A joint program for mid-size cars for Opel/Vauxhall and the Peugeot and Citroën brands
Okay, now be a little concerned. For years, the industry narrative has been that the French are lousy at building large- and medium-size cars, with their offerings purchased only by patriotism-bound government ministers. GM’s current Epsilon platform underpins a number of cars, including the new Malibu. In the eloquent words of American Idol host Randy Jackson, it’s “just a’ight.” Not only are we apprehensive about the resulting cars for Opel and Peugeot, we really hope the platform is good enough to support GM’s family sedans in the monstrously critical U.S. market.
Read full story »Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/caranddriver/blog/~3/eFkaXfdFpJE/
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