PSA Peugeot Citroen Sees General General Acquisition

In order for the company to function normally, the PSA Peugeot Citroen may intend to allow General Motors to make a full acquisition.

As the PSA Peugeot Citroen Group's operating funds reached 3 billion euros (about 23.98 billion yuan). By the end of this year, the operating capital of the PSA Peugeot Citroen Group may have been stretched. GM owns car brands such as Vauxhall, Opel and Chevrolet in Europe. As of March 2012, General Motors already owns a 7% stake in PSA Peugeot Citroen.

Citroen, Peugeot, Vauxhall, and Opel are currently working on a plan to share engines and production platforms. They will jointly launch Vauxhall, Zafira, Peugeot 3008 and Citroen C3 Picasso.

Although plans have been made to reduce production, GM and Peugeot Citroen still suffer from excess capacity. Whether the two parties can cooperate further depends on whether GM will shut down its factories in Europe and cut production. However, this is not what French President Hollande would like to see.

The Peugeot Citroen Group initially sought financial assistance from its Chinese partner, Dongfeng Motor Corporation, and turned to General Motors after failing. Reuters commented that GM’s assistance to PSA Peugeot Citroen is purely “broadcast.” Closing the factory and cutting personnel will bring a certain price to GM. According to reports, before the German general election in September this year, the two sides will not reach any agreement for the time being.

Jon Goodman, the former general manager of Peugeot Group and the current executive vice president of the company’s outreach department, told reporters: “We have no comment on speculations and rumors.”

Peugeot Citroen currently has 77,000 employees in France. However, the total sales in the first five months of this year have dropped by 13.9% compared with the same period of last year, which is even worse than the 11% decline in GM sales in Europe.