After acquiring Opel/Vauxhall from GM earlier this month in a deal worth $2.3 billion, PSA will run it as a separate company, with its own management.
That means CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann will keep his job, and Opel’s current plans of pushing ahead with new electric vehicles, before moving under a different roof, remain on the table.
“It is important for me to stand before employees and show leadership. I have done this in the past and will continue to do so“, Neuman told AutoMotorUndSport, according to AutoNews, adding that he will continue to work with the PSA chief, Carlos Tavares. “I think we have great respect for each other. This is why I see a good foundation for continued cooperation.”
Neumann declined to comment on a previous report that talked about Opel becoming a pure electric car brand, before moving to PSA, but confirmed that more EVs are seen in the company’s future, joining the likes of the GM-sourced Ampera-e.
Moreover, Opel will go ahead with the development of a new SUV that will sit at the top of the range alongside the redesigned Insignia, as part of a product offensive that includes 7 new models.
According to Neumann, launching the German brand in China isn’t seen as a viable solution, as his priority is making Opel more profitable in Europe with help from PSA. “The Chinese market is no longer the cure-all to help solve the problems on all the other markets”, he said. But even in the event that Neumann wanted Opel to enter China, it has been reported that GM demanded from PSA to bar the brand from competing against its own Chevy lineup in China and other overseas markets.
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