This is undoubtedly the first episode of a long Franco-German series. PSA will launch this year the production of stamped vans Peugeot, Citroën, Opel or Vauxhall. The new versions of the Partner, Berlingot and Combo will be assembled from the second half of the year in Vigo, Spain, and Mangualde, Portugal – two newly renovated PSA plants that will hire a fourth and third team respectively for the occasion.
“This is a big step for us,” says Philippe Narberburu, the owner of PSA commercial vehicles, who says he is “confident” about holding future sales. “The four vehicles have the same base [the EMP2 platform], but their interior and exterior designs are really differentiated,” says the manager, who will first market the passenger versions (two lengths available, five or seven seats) before leaving the utilitarian versions.
This joint program had been negotiated at a time when General Motors still held the lightning mark – such as the Peugeot 3008 / Opel Grandland cars and the Citroën C3 Aircross / Opel Crossland X.
Opel wants to increase its “VU”
At PSA, we hope to quickly grow Opel in the “VU”. The German brand wants to increase its sales by 25% by 2020. Between 2017, the manufacturer has sold 97,148 commercial vehicles. To achieve its goal, Opel will first push the fires in Europe, where the brand holds less than 5% of market sharebefore insisting on Turkey and trying out Russia and some African countries, details Philippe Narbeburu.
Opel sells Combo, Vivaro and Movano. These last two vehicles are in fact Renault Trafic and Master rebadged (the Vivaro is manufactured at Opel in Luton, in the United Kingdom, and the Movano is machined at Renault, in Batilly). “We look at these contracts, which are still running. For the moment, it is premature to talk about the continuation, “says the leader. As a reminder, the current generation of Opel-Renault vans was launched in 2014, and the previous one had lived from 2006 to 2014.
In vans and vans, PSA signed a sales record with 476,000 units sold (+ 15%) . In Europe, the group sold 422,000 vans last year, and exceeded 20% market share, thus increasing its lead over the second (Renault). As part of its strategic plan, the French manufacturer targets 21.5% of sales on the Old Continent and a tripling of its international sales by 2021. Excluding Opel.