Peugeot and Citroen owner buys Vauxhall-Opel for €2.2bn

The owner of car giants Peugeot and Citroen has shook hands on a €2.19 billion deal to buy General Motors’ European unit, including Vauxhall and Opel.

PSA will now become Europe’s second largest carmaker, behind Volkswagen.

PSA Group and GM announced the transaction in a joint statement in Paris Monday morning.

The combined firm generated €71.bn of revenue and delivered 4.3 million vehicles last year.

PSA’s chairman, Carlos Tavares, said the group was proud to join forces with Opel/Vauxhall and was deeply committed to continuing to develop the great company and accelerating its turnaround.

.@Opel/@Vauxhall to join PSA Group, establishing PSA Group as the 2nd-largest #automotive company in Europe. #Opel
➡️https://t.co/Zz2ZB1TOQ3 pic.twitter.com/YmbTdd3cur

— Groupe PSA (@GroupePSA) March 6, 2017

“We respect all that Opel/Vauxhall’s talented people have achieved as well as the company’s fine brands and strong heritage and we intend to manage PSA and Opel/Vauxhall capitalising on their respective brand identities,” he said. “Having already created together winning products for the European market, we know that Opel/Vauxhall is the right partner.”

Tavares said PSA saw the buyout as a natural extension of its operations and was eager to take it to the next level.

“We are confident that the Opel/Vauxhall turnaround will significantly accelerate with our support, while respecting the commitments made by GM to the Opel/Vauxhall employees,” he said.