Groupe PSA

Peugeot buys Citroën

In December 1974 Peugeot S.A. acquired a 38.2% share of Citroën. On 9 April 1976 they increased their stake of the then bankrupt company to 89.95%, thus creating the PSA Group (where PSA is short for Peugeot Société Anonyme), becoming PSA Peugeot Citroën. Since Citroën had two successful new designs in the market at this time (the GS and CX) and Peugeot was typically prudent in its own finances, the PSA venture was a financial success from 1976 to 1979.

PSA buys Chrysler Europe, has serious financial problems

In late 1978, PSA purchased the failing Chrysler Europe (which had been Rootes and Simca) from the troubled U.S. parent firm for a nominal USD $1.00, plus assumption of outstanding debt, leading to losses for the consortium from 1980 to 1985. Further investment was required because PSA decided to create a new brand for the entity for the disparate French and British models, based on the Talbot sports car last seen in the 1950s. From then on, the whole Chrysler/Simca range was sold under the Talbot badge until production of Talbot-branded passenger cars was shelved in 1987 and on commercial vehicles in 1992.

All of this investment caused serious financial problems for the entire PSA group; PSA lost money from 1980 to 1985. In 1987, the company dropped the Talbot brand for passenger cars when it ceased production of the Simca-developed Horizon; the Samba and Alpine/Solara had been discontinued a year earlier. What was to have been the Talbot Arizona became the Peugeot 309, with the former Rootes plant in Ryton and Simca plant in Poissy being turned over for Peugeot assembly from October 1985. Producing Peugeots in Ryton was significant, as it signalled the first time that PSA would build cars in the UK (car assembly at Ryton stopped in 2006 and the plant was closed). The Talbot name survived for a little longer on commercial vehicles until 1992 before being shelved completely. From 1987 to 1995, the plant also produced the Peugeot 405 saloon.

Attempted merger with GM

On 29 February 2012, PSA announced the creation of a major alliance with General Motors (GM), as part of which GM became PSA's second-largest shareholder, after the Peugeot family, with a holding of 7%. The alliance was intended to enable $2 billion per year of cost savings through platform sharing, common purchasing and other economies of scale.

PSA in crisis (2012-2014)

In July 2012, a union official said that PSA Peugeot Citroën would cut as much as 10 percent (8,000-10,000) of its French workforce of 100,356 employees on permanent and temporary contract. The jobs cut was more than previously announced.

On 24 October, PSA said it was close to an agreement with creditor banks on €11.5 billion ($14.9 billion) of refinancing and had won state guarantees on €7 billion in further borrowing by its Banque PSA Finance. In the same year, PSA Group and other major European car makers were under pressure by the European Union, the United States, and its partial owner General Motors, to leave Iran, which forced PSA Group to end their partnership with Iran Khodro and leave the country. And in doing so, PSA ended up losing revenue rapidly.

CEO Philippe Varin says that "Citroën and Peugeot are too close", so he plans on positioning Citroën C-line models lower than Peugeot with DS models above Peugeot.

On 12 December 2013, General Motors announced it was selling its 7% stake in PSA Peugeot Citroën.

In 2014, Dongfeng Motors, the Chinese partner that builds PSA cars in China, and the French government each took a 13% stake in PSA, in a financial rescue operation, reducing the Peugeot family share from 25% to 14%.

Rapid expansion (2014- present)

Following Dongfeng and the French government each acquiring stakes in Groupe PSA, various cost-cutting measures at the company turned its fortune around and gradually reduced PSA's debt, until the company began to turn a profit beginning in 2015. A new CEO, Carlos Tavares, was engaged and began to implement various cost-cutting measures and expanded the model range of all three core brands, alongside the creation of a new brand, DS Automobiles.

In early 2016, PSA unveiled a roadmap detailing its plan to re-enter the North American car market for the first time in almost forty years. Although many only expected the DS to enter the North American market, PSA announced that all of its brands would be sold across the continent. The plan to re-enter the market has three-stages, be a partner in a ridesharing operation (like Uber), then begin renting and sharing PSA's own vehicles to the public several years after, followed by a full launch, and establishing a dealer network in 2020.

On 10 Febraury 2017, PSA announced the purchase of Hindustan Motors and the Hindustan Ambassador brand, which will be used to sell Peugeot and Citröen vehicles in India beginning in 2018. This marks the first time in over twenty years that PSA will be selling cars in India.

On 14 February 2017 PSA announced that it was in talks to acquire Opel and Vauxhall Motors from General Motors. The talks were in an advanced stage, but were a surprise to the press and to much of Opel's leadership as they had plans to transform the company into an electric-car-only brand using the platform of the Opel Ampera-e for a wide-range of models.

GM reported a loss of US$257 millions from its European operations on 2016, sixteenth consecutive loss-making year for GM in Europe, bringing its amount of losses on the continent since 2000 to more than US$15 billion. Some expressed concerns about what this major acquisition might do to PSA's bottom line. However due to this amount of debt, it is likely that GM may give the brands to PSA, or sell Opel and Vauxhall at a highly-reduced price.

PSA CEO Carlos Tavares met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Theresa May at separate meetings where he toured some of Opel and Vauxhall's operations in Germany and the U.K., respectively. He assured the leaders that jobs would be safeguarded and that Vauxhall's Ellesmere plant was to be used by PSA at least until 2021.

Tavares announced that he wants Opel to keep its German brand identity and to embrace it, and that he would leverage Opel's pedigree of German engineering and Motorsport and use the company's heritage to reach markets and customers that may not consider a French car due to perceived reliability issues. He also announced that the Opel and Vauxhall brands would be elevated to new heights within Groupe PSA, including the sale of Opel and Vauxhall-branded vehicles outside of Europe for the first time in many decades. He also acknowledged the possibility of the Opel and Vaxuhall brands being instrumental in the launch of Groupe PSA in North America for the first time in many years.

Opel and Vauxhall vehicles will also likely be sold in South America, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East. PSA plans to continue using some of Opel's existing platforms and models, many of which are shared with GM, at least for a few years until the entire model range is updated and will only feature PSA platforms. GM has discussed the possibility of handing over various patents, technologies, and platforms to PSA in exchange for PSA's taking responsibility for a portion of Opel employees' pensions, which it seems PSA has agreed to.

On 17 February 2017, PSA announced its bid to acquire PROTON Holdings, which owns the Proton and Lotus brands and is particularly interested in Proton. Geely has also bid to acquire Proton, but its bid seems to be more focused on acquiring Lotus Cars.

Operations

The Peugeot and Citroën brands retain separate sales and marketing structures, but share common technology, development and assembling assets.

PSA is actively committed to developing its market presence and sales in many fast growing developing countries and regions of the world. This led to huge investments and partnerships in South America, Iran (Iran Khodro) and China (Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën Automobile). It announced plans to invest €650 million in a manufacturing plant in Sanand, India. With a capacity of 170,000 vehicles, the Sanand plant is expected to be operational by 2014. In Kazakhstan, assembly of the Peugeot passenger cars will start in June 2013 with a production capacity of 4,000 units per year at the beginning and more than 10,000 units in the near future.

Jean-Martin Folz was PSA's CEO between 1996 and early 2007, when he was replaced by former Airbus head Christian Streiff. Streiff was sacked on 29 March 2009, a day after the company posted a full year loss for 2008. Streiff was replaced by Corus Group chief executive Philippe Varin.

Peugeot Citroën Automobiles SA

The manufacturer of Peugeot and Citroën-branded cars and vans, 100% owned by PSA Peugeot Citroën and formed from the combination of Automobiles Citroën and Automobiles Peugeot. Automobiles Citroën and Automobiles Peugeot remain in operation in relation to specific retail operations in various countries but not in the development or manufacture of vehicles.

Peugeot Citroën Moteurs

Peugeot Citroën Moteurs is a manufacturer of petrol and diesel engines for a range of companies including Citroën, Ford, Jaguar, Mini and Peugeot. It was founded by Peugeot in 1898 in Lille and later named Compagnie Lilloise de moteurs (CLM). In 1992 SCM-CLM as it was then known became Peugeot Citroën Moteurs.

The company has a partnership with Ford Motor Company since 1998, supplies and receives a range of petrol and diesel engines to Ford and its subsidiaries.

PSA and BMW have an agreement to develop the Prince engine. PSA also sell their engines, gearboxes and other parts to small independent manufacturers such as DeLaChapelle and PGO. This PSA Peugeot Citroën 1.6-litre turbo petrol engine has received the International Engine of the Year awards a total of eight times, from 2007 to 2014.

Process Conception Ingénierie

Process Conception Ingénierie (PCI) is a French-based manufacturer of machine-tools for the automotive and aircraft industry.

Peugeot Motorcycles

Peugeot Motorcycles is 99.9% owned by PSA and manufactures a range of mopeds and scooters. The subsidiary owned 50% of the Chinese Jinan Qingqi Peugeot Motorcycles joint venture in 2006 which became wholly owned subsidiary of China South Industries Group in 2013.

Faurecia

PSA owns 57.43% of automotive supplier Faurecia, a company created by a 1997 merger between Bertrand Faure and PSA-owned ECIA. It provides various components to Citroën and Peugeot, and significant interior and exterior parts to companies such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Gefco

Gefco is a large international logistics company, established by Peugeot in 1949 and named Les Groupages Express de Franche-Comté. In November 2012, PSA sold a 75% share to Russian Railways (RZD) for €800m.

Motaquip

Motaquip is an all-makes aftermarket parts company and was established in the UK by PSA Peugeot Citroën in 1981. In December 2014 Motaquip was sold to an outside company to become independent of PSA as "Motaquip Limited". The head office is now based in Nuneaton, UK, with all parts are distributed from a warehouse in Luton, UK.

Financial services

PSA wholly owns Banque PSA Finance which provides financial services, and 98.67% of GIE PSA Tresorerie which was founded in 1990 as a treasury and cash management services division.

Former marques and subsidiaries

A number of marques were inherited following the acquisition of Chrysler Europe in 1978, and some were merged to re-establish Talbot, a previously dormant marque.

Chrysler Europe marques included the British Sunbeam (1901–1976), Humber (1868-1976), Singer (1905–1970), Commer (1905–1979), Hillman (1907–1976), Karrier (1908–1977), the French Simca (1934–1977) and the Spanish Barreiros (1959–1978)

Cycles Peugeot produced bicycles from 1882 until 2005. In 1987 ProCycle of Canada acquired rights to distribute French-made Peugeots in North America and in 1990, Cycles Peugeot sold the North American rights to market bicycles under the Peugeot name to ProCycle. In 2001, ProCycle discontinued the Peugeot bicycle brand. In Europe, the license to produce Peugeot-branded bicycles was sold to Cycleurope, a company making bicycles under different names, on condition that it would be reconsidered in 2004. That license was later withdrawn for Europe, though production of bicycles for export continued for another year.

Citer SA is a French-based car rental company established by Citroën in 1968 was sold to Enterprise Holdings in 2011.

Sevel SpA

Seval (Société Européenne de Véhicules Légers SA and Società Europea Veicoli Leggeri-Sevel S.p.A.) was established in 1978 and is equally owned by Peugeot Citroën and Fiat. As a result of this, two factories have been built assembling three ranges of vehicles, Sevel Nord and Sevel Sud. Peugeot and Fiat's Argentinian operations were also joined under the name of Sevel Argentina S.A. (Sociedad Europea de Vehículos para Latinoamérica), although Fiat withdrew in 1995. Currently Sevel builds the Fiat Ducato, Peugeot Boxer, and Citroën Jumper.

Dongfeng Peugeot Citroën Automobile Company

The joint venture with the Chinese company Dongfeng was established in 1992 and produces the 207, 307 and 408 models at factories in Wuhan and Xiangyang.

Toyota Peugeot Citroën Automobile

In 2002, the joint venture with Toyota Motor Corporation for the development and manufacturing of a series of city cars in a new factory in the Czech Republic was signed. The resulting company is called TPCA (Toyota Peugeot Citroën Automobile). It manufactures the Citroën C1, Peugeot 108 and Toyota Aygo.

Peugeot Citroën Mitsubishi Automotiv Rus

The Kaluga factory was built by the Russian-based joint venture between PSA Peugeot Citroën (70%) and Mitsubishi Motors (30%) established in 2011. The site builds the joint venture Peugeot 4007, Citroën C-Crosser and Mitsubishi Outlander, and the Peugeot 308 and Citroën C4.

Changan PSA Automobile

Changan PSA is a 50–50 joint venture with the Chinese Chang'an Automobile Group, based in Shenzhen with an initial annual production capacity of 200,000 vehicles & engines. It produces cars of the DS Automobiles brand.

Other interests

In 2008, the company investigated the option to buy Mitsubishi Motors but a deal could not be concluded and was called off in 2010. One outcome of the talks resulted in the Mitsubishi Outlander and Mitsubishi i-MiEV to be sold as Peugeot and Citroën in Europe.

Former joint ventures

Head office

The head office of PSA Peugeot Citroën is located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The 50,000-square-metre (540,000 sq ft) 1961 building houses around 2,000 employees. 900 square metres (9,700 sq ft) of space in the lobby includes an automobile showroom.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, Peugeot Motor Company PLC is a wholly owned United Kingdom subsidiary of PSA Peugeot Citroën that operates the Peugeot UK and Citroën UK brands. Peugeot UK's retail arm is Robins & Day which was part of Rootes Group before becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Peugeot Motor Company PLC in 1970.

Other locations

PSA has a number of manufacturing and development sites around the world. Vigo, in Galicia has PSA's biggest factory in the world.

PSA invested ₹4 billion establishing new plant in Chennai, India

The group announced on 29 November 2016 at the Tunisia's investment conference 2020 it will open a factory plant in the country in mid-2018. The factory will have a planned annual production of 1,200 units.

Hybrid Air

PSA Peugeot Citroën exhibited the "Hybrid Air" engine, an experimental petro-hydraulic hybrid, at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. The engine is the result of a secret development project involving about 100 people. The basic technology is not new, it has been used in heavy vehicles such as garbage trucks or buses which frequently start and stop, but its application to passenger cars is. The vehicle uses nitrogen gas compressed by energy harvested from braking or deceleration to power a hydraulic drive which supplements power from its conventional gasoline engine. The hydraulic and electronic components were supplied by Robert Bosch GmbH. Production versions were scheduled for 2015 or 2016 to sell at about US$25,000 or £17,000. Mileage was estimated to be about 3.5 L/100 km or 80 miles per gallon for city driving if installed in a Citroën C3.

Awards

Peugeot and Citroën vehicles have won many awards for their vehicles including: seven times the European Car of the Year award, 12 times the "Car of the year" Auto Europa award in Italy, 18 times the "car of the year" in Spain, and five times the "Irish Car of the Year" award.

European Car of the Year award winners: