PSA Peugeot Citroën will buy GM Europe, it has been confirmed and announced this morning…
Robin Roberts (Wheels Within Wales) reports.
Vauxhall and Opel will come under the same control as Peugeot, Citroën and DS.
Now there will be detailed due diligence discussions before the final contracts are signed, possibly in a year’s time.
The deal is unlikely to see any changes in Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port Astra assembly plant or Luton vans operation where about 4,500 are employed while tens of thousands of parts and sales staff are scattered throughout the UK and its On-Star customer “cloud service” is run from Luton as well.
It is understood vehicle production is safe for five to seven years and subsequent models will depend on post-Brexit economics, efficiencies and Government assistance.
The stumbling block over Vauxhall and Opel pensions running towards $10 Billion is also mostly resolved but needs fine tuning.
The key to keeping UK production will be successfully increasing the amount of parts made in Britain and put into the vehicles, slicing off import costs to increase the two plants’ economical viability.
The future of any tariff talks or import penalties will also be important when it comes to deciding where the next generation of Astra or Vauxhall vans are made, possibly Peugeot and Citroën cars and vans as well.