Earlier this week, it was reported that EU antitrust regulators were concerned regarding FCA and PSA’s combined high market share in small vans, and were expecting the two carmakers to address these concerns in a matter of days.
It seems that neither brand managed to do so, and now an expedited process might be out of the question, as reported by Autonews Europe.
Going forward, the European Commission will likely open a so-called Phase Two investigation that would delay the concessions deadline until October. The two companies are still planning on completing their merger during Q1 of next year.
Read Also: PSA Doesn’t Want Government Help As It Could Complicate Merger With FCA
FCA and PSA decided to merge back in December and have kept those hopes alive despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the disruption it has caused within the industry. It’s also unclear how the EU will take into account the plummeting demand for new cars in the region due to the pandemic.
“Regulatory approval of Fiat Chrysler-Peugeot’s tie-up is still likely, given potential antitrust concerns are small compared with the deal’s size,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Aitor Ortiz. “They may be addressed with remedies. These concerns should send the deal to a phase-two review.”
Even though the companies were told that their combined high market share in small vans was what worried competition enforcers, Ortiz claims that their most problematic overlaps may be in minicars and small SUVs, where their combined market share could reach roughly 65 percent.
However, based on data from the PSA-Opel deal of 2017, there should still be sufficient competition in most passenger car segments from the likes of the VW Group, Renault, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda and Toyota.
