PSA Group is not focused on negotiating a new partnership with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, PSA CEO Carlos Tavares said.
When asked if an alliance with FCA was something PSA is actively exploring or in talks about, Tavares said: “No, we are not targeting a specific company. We are working with all of our partners.”
“If there is an opportunity, we will consider but we don’t have to target any specific company and specifically not the one you mentioned,” Tavares said at a press event on Wednesday in Chenna, India.
Media reported earlier this week that PSA and FCA were exploring a partnership to share investments to build electric cars in Europe.
FCA is often cited as a possible merger candidate for PSA given FCA’s exposure to the U.S. market and its popular Jeep brand.
The Peugeot family, one of PSA’s three leading shareholders, would support a new acquisition if an opportunity presented itself, the president of Peugeot family holding company FFP told French daily Les Echos in an interview last month.
“We supported the Opel project from the start. If another opportunity comes up, we will not be braking, Carlos knows that,” said Robert Peugeot. He said that there were no concrete projects at the moment.
With FCA, as with others, “the planets could be aligned,” Robert Peugeot said.
PSA acquired the Opel-Vauxhall business from General Motors in 2017 and has boosted its profitability.