Industry News: PSA's CEO Says Opel's Engineers Are Working On Models for U.S. Return

[William Maley]

PSA Group CEO Carlos Tavares told attendees of the Automotive News World Congress yesterday they are employing the know-how from Opel engineers to develop vehicles for the U.S. market. Tavares declined to say which brand will lead the charge but did hint that future Opel models would be engineered to be compliant with U.S. regulations. 

Launching one of PSA Group's brands will be the last step in the company's 10-year plan of re-entering the U.S. market. Already, PSA is offering mobility services in parts of the U.S. and will launch a car sharing service in two to three big cities within the year.

“A 10-year plan gives us the appropriate time to properly understand this crucial market and launch the right products and services,” said Tavares.

Travares also revealed that PSA is planning to offer all of its vehicles with some sort of electrification option (electric, plug-in hybrid, and hybrid) by 2025.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), Reuters via Autoblog

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[David]

Opel folks is what will give them an insight into the US consumer as right now nothing PSA makes is of any interest I bet to the bulk of the US buyers.

PSA is like Fiat and can be left on road dead. No one wants their crapo products IMHO.

[Drew Dowdell]

As much as I like Citroen, it's gotta be Opel that is coming.  It would be the only way to justify the Opel purchase by PSA. 

Maybe Citroen can be a luxury division and have Opel/Citroen dealers like Chevy/Cadillac.

[Robert Hall]

I could see DS coming as the premium brand, they would need emphasize the Frenchness as an alternative to the usual German and Asian luxury marques.... (DS is marketed as a separate brand from Citroen in Europe).  They have some pretty good looking hatchbacks and crossovers. 

Edited January 18, 2018 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[Drew Dowdell]

13 minutes ago, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

I could see DS coming as the premium brand, they would need emphasize the Frenchness as an alternative to the usual German and Asian luxury marques.... (DS is marketed as a separate brand from Citroen in Europe).  They have some pretty good looking hatchbacks and crossovers. 

I really should have been in marketing.... I wrote the ad copy for that in my head in 15 seconds.

[Robert Hall]

Sacre' bleu!   Now I'm hungry for crepes, boeuf bourguignon, coq au vin... I have some French restaurants I need to visit in Cleveland's hipster-infested gentrified neighborhoods..

[Drew Dowdell]

6 minutes ago, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

Sacre' bleu!   Now I'm hungry for crepes, boeuf bourguignon, coq au vin... I have some French restaurants I need to visit in Cleveland's hipster-infested gentrified neighborhoods..

If Citroen does come to the US, I'll be severely disappointed if their ads don't heavily feature the songs of Edith Piaf

[Robert Hall]

Piaf would be interesting.  Or to target a younger audience maybe mix in some Daft Punk, Phoenix or M83...or Mylene Farmer (though she is Quebecois). 

[Drew Dowdell]

1 minute ago, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

Piaf would be interesting.  Or to target a younger audience maybe mix in some Daft Punk, Phoenix or M83...or Mylene Farmer (though she is Quebecois). 

Heck, I like Daft Punk, but I never associated them with France.  La Vie En Rose is nearly an unofficial French National Anthem. 

 

[FAPTurbo]

alfa can't convince anyone of their italianness being superior to the germans so the french may as well just surrender this entire dumb idea.

[David]

3 minutes ago, FAPTurbo said:

alfa can't convince anyone of their italianness being superior to the germans so the french may as well just surrender this entire dumb idea.

Heck we renamed French Fries to American Fries. PSA is Dead man walking, Opel or nothing at this point with DS as a store within a store at a higher level.

[riviera74]

Why would anyone BUY an Opel?  Maybe most people would buy a Chevy instead. . . .

[smk4565]

I think Citroen could do well.  They focus on ride quality rather than Nurburgring cornering which makes them different than Germans and should appeal to the aging baby boomer population we have.  

Opel could do okay but I don’t know if they would have anything better or different than GM or Ford already sell here.  And if you want to break into a new market you have to have something much better than what is already there.

[David]

4 hours ago, smk4565 said:

I think Citroen could do well.  They focus on ride quality rather than Nurburgring cornering which makes them different than Germans and should appeal to the aging baby boomer population we have.  

Opel could do okay but I don’t know if they would have anything better or different than GM or Ford already sell here.  And if you want to break into a new market you have to have something much better than what is already there.

I get what you are saying SMK, My only thought is the Baby boomers are NOT buying auto's as they wind down into the grave and Millennials are not too interested in auto's maybe due to debt load.  Seems the current buyers are into driving machines, not ride quality like a lazy boy recliner.

[balthazar]

2 hours ago, dfelt said:

...My only thought is the Baby boomers are NOT buying auto's are they wind down into the grave...

Baby boomers, loosely defined, are currently between 53 and 63 years old. Know what the average vehicle buyer age is? Know how many vehicles sold in the U.S. last year?
And unless the average lifespan dropped by some 20 years, I'd hope they're not all 'winding down into the grave' all of a sudden. That would SLAUGHTER vehicle sales if it were true.
 

[Robert Hall]

1 minute ago, balthazar said:

Baby boomers, loosely defined, are currently between 53 and 63 years old. Know what the average vehicle buyer age is? Know how many vehicles sold in the U.S. last year?
And unless the average lifespan dropped by some 20 years, I'd hope they're not all 'winding down into the grave' all of a sudden. That would SLAUGHTER vehicle sales if it were true.
 

54 to 72...  (1946-1964 is the standard definition of the Baby Boomer years). 

Edited January 19, 2018 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[balthazar]

Oops- yeah: '46-64. In that it's January, I calculated thusly : 2017-1964 = 53 yrs old, or the AVERAGE new car buyer.
Last car my grandfather bought, he was 90.

[Robert Hall]

My Dad last bought a new car at 76, but he passed at 79.    Yeah, I don't see the Baby Boomers lessening car buying dramatically for a while.   My generation is small (X), but we will still be buying for a few decades..

[David]

56 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Baby boomers, loosely defined, are currently between 53 and 63 years old. Know what the average vehicle buyer age is? Know how many vehicles sold in the U.S. last year?
And unless the average lifespan dropped by some 20 years, I'd hope they're not all 'winding down into the grave' all of a sudden. That would SLAUGHTER vehicle sales if it were true.
 

 

56 minutes ago, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

54 to 72...  (1946-1964 is the standard definition of the Baby Boomer years). 

OK, guess I am off a bit as to me baby boomers are those in their mid to late 60's and older and they are not seeming to buy big ticket items like they did 10 years ago. With the fall out from our great depression of 2007 to 2012, I wonder just how many baby boomers can now really afford expensive new auto's, those being 62 or older in retirement.

I get 53 years old might be the average age of auto buyers but the market has shifted considerably from the buyer days of float mobiles. Some one wanting an auto that floats like the 70's, 80's and early 90's I think is much rarer than those wanting an auto that is more of a driving machine!

[Robert Hall]

5 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Some one wanting an auto that floats like the 70's, 80's and early 90's I think is much rarer than those wanting an auto that is more of a driving machine! reliable appliance.

Fixed that for you.   Baby Boomers still buy Camrys and pickups, though.   It's funny, both my siblings are Baby Boomers and all my cousins are boomers (some have kids that are my generation).    I've read that minivans are popular w/ many retirees, easy to get in and out of and room for grandkids. 

Edited January 19, 2018 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[balthazar]

4 hours ago, dfelt said:

Some one wanting an auto that floats like the 70's, 80's and early 90's I think is much rarer than those wanting an auto that is more of a driving machine!

I don't think that's a significant volume of consumers. Immaterial- there's no 'floaters' left. Still sold 17.1 million vehicles last year.

Edited January 20, 2018 by balthazar

[David]

1 minute ago, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

Fixed that for you.   Baby Boomers still buy Camrys and pickups, though.   It's funny, both my siblings are Baby Boomers and all my cousins are boomers (some have kids that are my generation).    

Nice reliable correction. Yea, I know there are still plenty of 50+ year olds buying those reliable appliances. Just do not get the desire to buy a lemming mobile.

I know I am the start of the Gen X crowd being born in 1967. But to me boomers are those in their retirement years now.  

2 minutes ago, balthazar said:

I don't think that's a significant of consumers. Immaterial- there's no 'floaters' left. Still sold 17.1 million vehicles last year.

Must be a mid west and east coast thing

JK

Yea plenty of Camry, Impalas, etc. being sold based on numbers. 

Lucky it is not as bad as those later years I mentioned.  

[Robert Hall]

6 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Nice reliable correction. Yea, I know there are still plenty of 50+ year olds buying those reliable appliances. Just do not get the desire to buy a lemming mobile.

I know I am the start of the Gen X crowd being born in 1967. But to me boomers are those in their retirement years now.  

Still plenty of boomers out there working--Sergio Marchionne, Jeff Bezos, Bill Belichick, Pete Carroll, Donald Trump (though he golfs a lot), Tom Cruise, my sister, etc..  

[David]

5 minutes ago, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

Still plenty of boomers out there working--Sergio Marchionne, Jeff Bezos, Bill Belichick, Pete Carroll, Donald Trump (though he golfs a lot), Tom Cruise, my sister, etc..  

LOL, Except for Potus45 which I see more of a bully harassment of our great country, I do not see those working as being part of the baby boomers even if they are of the retirement age.

Too me boomers are retired peeps, those that choose to work or have to work are the Gen X Awesome Crowd!  

[smk4565]

I believe the C3 and C5 Aircross would sell well here, the rest of their merry band of hatchbacks I don't think so, but these 2 would sell for sure.

 

Edited January 19, 2018 by smk4565

[David]

Those are so freaking ugly, remind me of the Fiat crap machines. Nothing desirable about those two machines IMHO.

[riviera74]

Ugly as those are, somebody will still buy one of those.  The Aztek was hardly attractive, but those sold quite well in its time.