Peugeot is serious: the French car manufacturer wants to meet the chancellor shortly Angela Merkel to talk to her about one possible takeover of Opel (German company which, however, belongs to the American group General Motors). The news was reported by the German newspaper Bild, which cites French sources.
The number one of PSA, Carlos Tavares, wants to ask Merkel for a quick meeting, the sources say, to explain that Peugeot is aiming for "an alliance" with Opel. Tavares also intends to contact the German unions as soon as possible.
The newspaper also mentions the auto industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Car research institute, which sees "overlaps" in terms of personnel in the European plants of Opel and PSA. The German company employs just under 19 people in the plants in Ruesselheim, Kaiserslautern and Eisenach.
Complicating the outcome of the operation could be thepolitical hostility. The merger with a European partner, in fact, will have a significant impact on theoccupation of Opel, moreover a few months before the German elections. It is no coincidence that the Land of Rhineland-Palatinate, where important Opel plants are located (Eisenach and Kaiserslautern ed.) has asked the PSA group for "a clear commitment to the German brand and the German sites" of Opel.
GM's availability for dialogue can be explained by the losses of its European subsidiary: 257 million dollars in 2016 after 813 million in 2015. In the last seven years the drain has been 8 billion dollars, enough to convince the Detroit giant to throw in the towel. PSA, on the contrary, has long been looking for a merger that would increase the critical mass of the French-Chinese group.
Meanwhile the stock on the FCA stock exchange, after gaining 2,4%, by mid-morning it rose by 0,8%, to 10,90 euros. Yesterday, Fiat Chrysler shares had gained +4,1% in Milan and +4,39% on Wall Street in view of a forthcoming consolidation in the sector.
fca it had long been a candidate for integration with Opel, but both Sergio Marchionne and John Elkann had rejected the advances, aspiring to merge with GM. Analysts argue that if the US auto giant were to get rid of Opel and Vauxhall, the game could reopen, because there would no longer be problems of product overlap in Europe to hinder the merger.
