Even though it hasn’t been that long since General Motors and PSA Peugeot-Citroen announced big plans for an elaborate partnership, the two companies have failed to come to an agreement on a number of projects.
After dropping plans to jointly develop a small car for Latin America and a dual-clutch gearbox earlier this year, we now learn that GM and PSA have also scrapped plans for a joint mid-size car program that would have seen models like the next-generation Opel/Vauxhall Insignia, Peugeot 508 and Citroen C5 sharing parts.
A PSA spokesman told Autonews that two automakers failed to reach a “convincing business case” in regards to the mid-size car program.
So, in what areas and in which car segments will PSA and GM continue to work together?
According to a press statement from GM’s Opel division released today, the two companies will join forces in the development of a common platform architecture in the following segments:
– A compact C-segment MPV for Opel/Vauxhall, and a compact crossover for the Peugeot brand
– A B-segment subcompact minivan program for Opel/Vauxhall, Peugeot and Citroen
– The co-development of an upgraded low CO2 B-segment platform to underpin the next generation of Opel/Vauxhall and PSA’s superminis in Europe and other regions around the world
“The first vehicles resulting from this cooperation are expected to be launched in 2016,” said Opel in the statement. “The Opel/Vauxhall, Peugeot and Citroen models will be highly differentiated and fully consistent with their respective brand characteristics.”
The carmakers have also signed a definitive agreement to create a joint purchasing organization in Europe supported by a purchasing joint venture, though, it is still subject to anti-trust approvals.
In addition, PSA and GM will co-develop new high-performance and fuel-efficient small gasoline engines derived from PSA’s global small petrol engine program (EB engine) that are used on the new 208, while the two companies said that they are still exploring “further global initiatives”.
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