In Europe, aside from its familiar range of cars for carrying people that are definitely more well-known, PSA Peugeot Citroen also has a successful commercial vehicles division with a range of its own. These PSA vans and light trucks are prevalent on European roads, where they are appreciated for being hardy and affordable vehicles powered by efficient diesel engines.
However, it seems that the French may be able to expand their van-selling horizons, through their GM connection, into the US where the vehicles would get a local badge (we say GMC, but it could just as easily be Chevrolet) and be sold through existing dealers.
A Reuters report says that the implications of the decision are currently being weighed, but since the two auto-making giants are already working together on “developing small cars and minivans,” and GM owns 7 percent of PSA, it is plausible.
Adding to the plausibility of this to actually take place are Peugeot’s serious financial problems in its core markets, which are definitely forcing officials to think outside the box, in order to at least try to become profitable. Besides, Peugeot doesn’t mind passing its commercial vehicles on to other automaker which will rebadge and sell it as their own – Toyota, for instance, recently announced their new ProAce van, which is actually the exact same vehicle sold by Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat.
By Andrei Nedelea
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