Vauxhall, Peugeot and Citroën to build joint vehicles

Jointly-built Vauxhalls, Peugeots and Citroëns could be a reality within four years.

PSA, which owns Peugeot and Citroën, and GM, owner of Vauxhall and European sister Opel, have announced the plan to share resources on four new vehicle programmes.

Around £1.5 billion a year in costs is expected to be saved by the plan, the latest part of an agreement between the two automotive giants reported on CarandVanNews in February.

The first joint car will be a compact people-carrier, likely to replace Vauxhall’s Zafira and the Peugeot 4007 from 2016.

A small MPV for Vauxhall/Opel and Citroën will follow, and then a new low-CO2 small car platform which will form the basis of next generation cars for all four brands – it’s not yet being stated whether these will be supermini or city car-sized vehicles.

Finally a mid-sized car programme will be launched, again for all four brands.

In a astatement GM and PSA say that all four projects will be developed combining the best platform architectures and technologies from the alliance partners.

“Beyond this, PSA and GM are currently sounding out whether to extend the cooperation potentially to other fields,” the statement continues.

Previously-announced strategies to develop joint purchasing programmes between GM and PSA have also been confirmed, with the aim of cutting costs by $2 billion a year within five years.

Platform sharing planned in GM/PSA link-up – click here

Words by: Andrew Charman