now that Chinese firm Dongfeng has bailed out Peugeot, Vauxhall and PSA are still forging ahead with a partnership that will include three all-new models.
Vauxhall’s European boss, Karl Thomas Neumann, told car express that it was crucial for the company to cut costs by entering into such deals, although the original plan to build a small city car has been ditched. instead the next Meriva, Zafira and a new commercial car will all use Peugeot platforms and engines.
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“Opel is the third largest carmaker in Europe, we built a million cars last year but we need volume platforms. only two cars that don’t sit on those platforms.” said Neumann. apparently GM will pay PSA a set transaction price per car as part of the deal, but the exterior and interior design will still be bespoke to Vauxhall.
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“Of course they cannot be the same car [as PSA] because as soon as they leave the factory they are competitors, but we will make sure it feels like an Opel.”
He went on to discuss that Vauxhall’s new £7,000 city car – which was originally planned as a partnership – will now be developed exclusively by Vauxhall. This implies that they can bring it to market faster – and include much more GM content.
