Opel deal would find ‘speedy’ savings says Tavares

PSA Group’s proposed acquisition of Opel would quickly produce savings and worth from the General Motors European division’s turnaround and complementary brand names, the French automaker’s CEO Carlos Tavares stated on Thursday.

Including GM’s German Opel and British Vauxhall brands would bring new consumers hesitant to buy French automobiles, Tavares informed experts and press reporters, while producing savings from shared technical underpinnings.

“There is substantial complementarity in terms of customer consideration between the German Opel brand and our 3 French brands,” Tavares stated, referring to the French group’s Peugeot, Citroen and DS badges.

“This company requires help,” he said. “Exactly what we see today with the circumstance of Opel … has a great deal of similarities with what we were dealing with four years back.”

Under Tavares, PSA has rebounded from a 2014 brush with bankruptcy and state-backed bailout to record levels of success. On Thursday, it published a 6 percent automotive operating margin for 2016 and raised its medium-term revenues goal.

Savings with Opel, if the offer goes through, would be underpinned by fast convergence of underlying vehicle architectures, the PSA chief likewise stated.

“When you take a look at the product plan you see that you can in a rather speedy way implement rather significant synergies,” Tavares stated.