PSA Peugeot Citroën Announces A Return to the U.S.

It has been hinted at and rumored for a few years. But today, PSA Peugeot Citroën announced they would be making a return to the U.S.

During a presentation for analysts and investors at PSA's headquarters in Paris, CEO Carlos Tavares unveiled a ten-year plan that could result in the launch of Citroën, DS, and Peugeot vehicles to the U.S. The plan would be split up into three steps.

• Step one: Enter the U.S. as a mobility operator from 2017, possibly with Bollore,” said Tavares. Bollore is a French company that builds batteries and compact EVs that are mainly used by a French car-sharing service, Autolib. Citroën and Bollore are currently working together to bring a concept EV into production.
• Step two: Start up a car-sharing program (i.e. Zipcar, GM's Maven) that would be owned and operated by PSA.
• Step three: If the first two steps are successful, PSA could return “to sell cars in the U.S. supported by regional sourcing when appropriate,” Tavares said.
  

Tavares says PSA has formed a team to study the U.S. market, what customers like and dislike; and the regulatory requirements.

As Automotive News notes, this is wildly different than the plan provided by Yves Bonnefont, CEO of DS back in 2014. Bonnefont explained the strategy was to sell DS vehicles in 200 large cities around the world after 2020 - including the U.S.

“We want to make DS a global premium brand, and you cannot be global without the U.S.,” said Bonnefont.

Why ten years? A possible reason may come down to PSA Peugeot Citroën not having any presence in the U.S. As we noted in our report last month, PSA doesn't have any connections to dealers or manufacturers. Also, PSA closed down their U.S. office in 2013 as a way to cut costs.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)