The more General Motors European division and PSA Peugeot-Citroën deepen their newly formed strategic partnership, the more rumors come out. Earlier today, Germany's Spiegel magazine and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung business daily reported that GM decided to move development of the next Opel Zafira minivan from Germany to France. Opel's response came in quickly via a statement attributed to Opel/Vauxhall CEO Karl-Friedrich Stracke who denied the reports.
"As part of the initial announcement earlier this year, GM/Opel and PSA stated their intent to cooperate in several areas including product development. Whatever the final split will be among the agreed common projects, no jobs will be lost in the engineering center in Ruesselsheim due to the alliance – in fact, the nature of the alliance is that it is a balanced one," Stracke said in the statement.
"Opel is leaving no stone unturned to enhance the efficiency and future viability in order to achieve sustainable profitability as quickly as possible in a difficult market environment," he added.
In a separate report from Reuters, GM and PSA Peugeot-Citroën are said to have sealed several deals over the past month, including expanding the number of cars they will build on shared platforms.
"Work teams are in place, meeting regularly and hopefully soon we will be able to share the first update on alliance progress," GM stated.
While GM may not be willing to release details, Peugeot Director General Frederic Saint-Geours was more than happy to show his cards during an interview with Italy's Corriere della Sera. Saint Geours said that the two automotive groups will "launch a raft of new models on shared platforms from 2016".
"We will launch a D-segment car, a crossover, a compact minivan, and two models in the B and C segments," he told the Italian daily. "After that, we will launch a shared-platform eco-friendly car."
To explain, by D-segment car, the French executive means something in the likes of the Opel Insignia/Peugeot 508, by compact minivan a vehicle similar to the Citroen Picasso, while a B-segment car translates to an Opel Corsa/Peugeot 208 and C-segment to the Opel Astra/Citroen C4.
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