Fiat and PSA Peugeot/Citroën to merge?
Two storied European nameplates might combine operations as rumors are flying that Fiat and PSA Peugeot/Citroën may find the road to future profits easier to travel together. The first rumblings of potential trouble at Fiat came when its CEO Sergio Marchionne suggested his company's future looked bleak without a major partner and that there was only room for six global automakers in his estimation. Now, according to Italian newspaper Milano Finanza, leaders of both Italy and France have discussed a possible tie-up between the two companies.
Both countries are said to be considering offering financial aid packages to their respective home-grown automakers, and a merger may be seen as another way of ensuring their future viability. Although the two automakers specialize in small cars and therefore have many overlapping products, the only joint-ventures currently shared between them are for commercial vehicles and MPVs. If the two Euro giants were to merge, the resulting company would roughly match the size of Nissan/Renault and Volkswagen.
[Source: Reuters]
_opt_thumbnail.jpg)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
casey 8:38AM (12/15/2008)
hey headline writer! spell P E U G EO T correctly please!
about the story, i'm just worried that with all these mergers, the cars will lose their individuality, but i guess that's better than having no cars at all.
Reply
soul7963 9:59AM (12/15/2008)
Strange! He managed to spell the tags right!
AZZO45b 1:12PM (12/15/2008)
That is one concern... but another concern for me would be Motorsports efforts. Fiat obviously back Ferrari in F1 & over the weekend PSA was rumored to be one of the potential buyers for the Honda F1 team.
Even with a lower cost F1 on the way... why would these two compete against one another in the same series? Don't think they would.
Avinash machado 8:40AM (12/15/2008)
If they do merge they should call the combined entity Mediterranean Motor Company.
Reply
casey 8:41AM (12/15/2008)
you can access the umlaut for the e in Citroën by using 'option u, then e' on a mac, or 'alt u, then e' on a PC... : )
Reply
Adil 8:47AM (12/15/2008)
Oh noes...
I love my Fiat but hate French cars...
it's like having your hot mom marry michael jackson...
Reply
vik 8:57AM (12/15/2008)
Such a merger has no sense: FIAT and PSA are competitors, they have almost the same product lines, mainly small cars. The proposed merger between BMW and FIAT made much more sense: the former specialized in luxury/sporty RWD cars, the latter specialized in small economical FWD cars; they could have benefited so much from each other!
If this merger goes on we'll see just clone cars like the Aygo/107/C1, meant to give cost savings and no more; it does make sense, but I'd rather prefer a 500-based BMW Isetta or a 5series-based Alfa 167...
Reply
Alex 9:03AM (12/15/2008)
"CEO Sergio Marchionne suggested ... that there was only room for six global automakers in his estimation."
Seriously? only 6?
That wouldn't be enough to provide an auto manufacturer for each of the major countries currently producing.
Reply
Avinash machado 9:12AM (12/15/2008)
Six could mean
Toyota
Honda
Renault-Nissan
Hyundai
Volkswagen
Daimler
Throwback 10:22AM (12/15/2008)
I think Ford will survive. I also think the Chevrolet brand will survive, but maybe not US owned.
arcsine 10:12AM (12/15/2008)
Does that mean Ferraris are going to have crazy electric sliding doors and hydro-pneumatic suspensions now?
Reply
Pdexter 10:31AM (12/15/2008)
Haha that's nice idea to play with it.
There's some great brands inlcuded so hopefully they keep going. Thought this could also give some fresh ideas for some of the cars.
Like rsfourever said i wouldn't lost my sleep if Lancia would be thrown away at their current state.
Mobius_1 11:08AM (12/15/2008)
Or Citroens are gonna have awesome, growling V8s with a manetinno switch on the steering wheel?
Throwback 10:18AM (12/15/2008)
This would be huge! Talk about GM having too many brands. It will be interesting to see who is the dominant partner and what brands (if any) get the axe.
Reply
rsfourever 10:21AM (12/15/2008)
actually there wouldnt be that many brands.
peugeot
citroën
fiat
lancia
alfa
maserati
ferrari
peugeot, citroen and fiat are fundamentally different styles of cars and cater to different populations, even though they are all considered budget brands (perhaps peugeot less than the other two).
alfa is the upper end brand. ferrari and maserati stay as is. the only brand that would risk ending is lancia, and frankly their cars are ugly and sell very little as it is.
cxv 11:22AM (12/15/2008)
This makes no sense since these two make similar cars and none sell in the US. Maybe PSA or FIAT could buy Saab and or Volvo from GM/Ford to expand their market. Anyways, PSA is a company that rather collaborate with others than mergers.
Reply
Mattias 11:45AM (12/15/2008)
Yes and Saab could team up with Lancia. They could rebadge the Delta for example and sell it as entry level Saab.
psijas73 11:37AM (12/15/2008)
I can´t wat to see the new V12 powered Citroen C1 and the Diesel Hybrid Ferrari F-60 !!
Reply
Richard S. 1:24PM (12/15/2008)
A merger makes no sense. It would lead to eventual bickering on downsizing as both France and Italy unions won't allow each other to be the target of cuts to save the other.
A more sensible approach would be a joint-venture to build with economies of scale the engines and transmissions as well as all the things that drivers don't see. Perhaps even cooperate in creating car platforms but leave the design and marketing to each individual company.
Reply
Abe 2:12PM (12/15/2008)
This is not a bad idea, They all have a long history of successful joint ventures. PSA could learn a thing or two about design from Alfa and the new Fiats and Fiat could learn a thing or two about Peugeot's solid engineering and better financial structure. The best model would to follow Renault-Nissan, one of the most successful mergers/joint ventures in automotive history. As long as PSA and Fiat remain independent on a product level without anyone becoming too controlling of one or the other as in Ferrari's and Maserati's case under Fiat, this merger could work out to the benefit of all the parties involved.
Reply