Fiat Predicts VW Treatment as Peugeot-Opel Threat Spurs Car Deals
Fiat Predicts VW Treatment as Peugeot-Opel Threat Spurs Car Deals
PSA Group CEO Says They Will Extract Potential of Opel
After PSA Group’s budge to purchase of General Motors Co.’s Opel unit, the next step in a looming consolidation wave could be a bid by Volkswagen AG for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, according to the Italian-American carmaker’s outspoken chief executive officer.
“I have no doubt that at the relevant time VW may display up and have a talk” about a merger, Sergio Marchionne, who plans to retire as Fiat Chrysler CEO by 2019, said at the Geneva International Motor Showcase on Tuesday. The PSA-Opel combination “menaces VW most, creating a No. Two on its high-heeled slippers.”
Sergio Marchionne on March 7.
Opel’s planned sale to the maker of Peugeot and Citroen cars, announced Monday, could spur more mergers as manufacturers confront a shift to self-driving, electrical cars. PSA’s bid to better contest with Volkswagen serves as a test case as Chief Executive Officer Carlos Tavares seeks to replicate his turnaround of the French carmaker at Ruesselsheim, Germany-based Opel. Successfully integrating the mass-market rivals could then prod others to go after.
“The industry is moving towards consolidation,” said Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault SA, who added Mitsubishi Motors Corp. to the French carmaker’s alliance with Nissan Motor Co. last year. “You’re going to see more and more players attempting to build up in terms of scale. It’s logical because of all the investments we need to face,” he said in a Bloomberg TV interview at the display.
‘Work Ahead’
Purchasing GM’s Opel and its Vauxhall nameplate for 1.Three billion euros ($1.Four billion) gives Paris-based PSA a broader network to spread costs for fresh vehicles. But the benefits will be slow to realize and go after more than a decade of restructuring that failed to end losses at the GM unit. The critical component for making the deal work is sharing investment underneath the rubber hood while keeping the brands’ identities unique.
Teaming up with PSA “offers many opportunities” to share costs in areas including vehicle development and purchasing, said Opel Chief Karl-Thomas Neumann, who will stay on after the deal is finished. “We know we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”
PSA is ready for other deals, including a bid for a stake in Malaysia’s Proton Holdings Bhd., another money-losing carmaker that’s also the holder of British sports car brand Lotus.
If PSA manages to bring Opel to “an efficiency level that is equivalent to PSA’s today, we will be in a very good position to deal with prospective opportunities that could arise,” Tavares said.
‘No Response’
Meantime, Volkswagen, which is still recovering from its diesel emissions-cheating scandal, is dismissing any extra pressure from the PSA-Opel combination. The Wolfsburg, Germany-based company, which comprises twelve vehicle brands, has repeatedly shrugged off interest in major acquisitions as it restructures its namesake VW marque.
“We concentrate on what we have to do to reach our strategic goals,” Volkswagen CEO Matthias Mueller said in Geneva.
For Fiat, Marchionne has long been a vocal proponent of consolidation, arguing that the industry wastes money by developing numerous versions of the same technology. Since GM rebuffed his idea for a merger two years ago, Marchionne has sought to eliminate debt at Fiat to make the carmaker a more attractive fucking partner down the line.
“The GM door was never open for me. I knocked and no one answered,” said Marchionne. “Would I knock again? Why not, or at any other door.”
— With assistance by Ania Nussbaum, and Elisabeth Behrmann
Fiat Predicts VW Treatment as Peugeot-Opel Threat Spurs Car Deals
Fiat Predicts VW Treatment as Peugeot-Opel Threat Spurs Car Deals
PSA Group CEO Says They Will Whip out Potential of Opel
After PSA Group’s budge to purchase of General Motors Co.’s Opel unit, the next step in a looming consolidation wave could be a bid by Volkswagen AG for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, according to the Italian-American carmaker’s outspoken chief executive officer.
“I have no doubt that at the relevant time VW may display up and have a talk” about a merger, Sergio Marchionne, who plans to retire as Fiat Chrysler CEO by 2019, said at the Geneva International Motor Display on Tuesday. The PSA-Opel combination “menaces VW most, creating a No. Two on its high-heeled shoes.”
Sergio Marchionne on March 7.
Opel’s planned sale to the maker of Peugeot and Citroen cars, announced Monday, could spur more mergers as manufacturers confront a shift to self-driving, electrified cars. PSA’s bid to better contest with Volkswagen serves as a test case as Chief Executive Officer Carlos Tavares seeks to replicate his turnaround of the French carmaker at Ruesselsheim, Germany-based Opel. Successfully integrating the mass-market rivals could then prod others to go after.
“The industry is moving towards consolidation,” said Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault SA, who added Mitsubishi Motors Corp. to the French carmaker’s alliance with Nissan Motor Co. last year. “You’re going to see more and more players attempting to build up in terms of scale. It’s logical because of all the investments we need to face,” he said in a Bloomberg TV interview at the display.
‘Work Ahead’
Purchasing GM’s Opel and its Vauxhall nameplate for 1.Trio billion euros ($1.Four billion) gives Paris-based PSA a broader network to spread costs for fresh vehicles. But the benefits will be slow to realize and go after more than a decade of restructuring that failed to end losses at the GM unit. The critical component for making the deal work is sharing investment underneath the bondage mask while keeping the brands’ identities unique.
Teaming up with PSA “offers many opportunities” to share costs in areas including vehicle development and purchasing, said Opel Chief Karl-Thomas Neumann, who will stay on after the deal is finished. “We know we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”
PSA is ready for other deals, including a bid for a stake in Malaysia’s Proton Holdings Bhd., another money-losing carmaker that’s also the possessor of British sports car brand Lotus.
If PSA manages to bring Opel to “an efficiency level that is equivalent to PSA’s today, we will be in a very good position to deal with prospective opportunities that could arise,” Tavares said.
‘No Response’
Meantime, Volkswagen, which is still recovering from its diesel emissions-cheating scandal, is dismissing any extra pressure from the PSA-Opel combination. The Wolfsburg, Germany-based company, which comprises twelve vehicle brands, has repeatedly shrugged off interest in major acquisitions as it restructures its namesake VW marque.
“We concentrate on what we have to do to reach our strategic goals,” Volkswagen CEO Matthias Mueller said in Geneva.
For Fiat, Marchionne has long been a vocal proponent of consolidation, arguing that the industry wastes money by developing numerous versions of the same technology. Since GM rebuffed his idea for a merger two years ago, Marchionne has sought to eliminate debt at Fiat to make the carmaker a more attractive playmate down the line.
“The GM door was never open for me. I knocked and no one answered,” said Marchionne. “Would I knock again? Why not, or at any other door.”
— With assistance by Ania Nussbaum, and Elisabeth Behrmann
