The PSA Group is reportedly demanding a refund of about half of the €1,3-billion it paid General Motors for the Opel and Vauxhall brands.
Why? Well, sources told Reuters that the dispute centres on the assertion that Opel’s current engine line-up isn’t capable of meeting the upcoming more stringent CO2 emissions targets in Europe.
Earlier this month, the French group – which also owns Peugeot, Citroën and DS Automobiles – revealed its strategy for the Opel brand, and made mention that it would switch to PSA Group vehicle platforms “faster than originally expected”. It added that the Opel powertrain family would be cut from the current 10 to just four.
Furthermore, PSA said that by 2024, Opel’s entire European passenger car line would be electrified, offering the option of a pure electric variant or plug-in hybrid version alongside traditional internal combustion engines. By 2020, four electrified model lines would be on the market, including a plug-in hybrid Grandland X and a full electric version of the new Corsa.
This stance was likely adopted to improve Opel’s chances of meeting the upcoming CO2 emissions limits – and thus avoiding large penalties – that are expected to be rolled out in the EU from 2020.
According to Automotive News Europe, PSA “intends to pursue a legal claim” in a bid to have between €600-million and €800-million refunded, saying it was “misled” about Opel’s emissions strategy.
In fact, as the report points out, PSA boss Carlos Tavares has already hinted that the facts may have been misrepresented before the sale.
“We became aware a few weeks after we finalised the closing that the company was going to the wall on CO2 emissions,” Tavares said earlier this month.
“We put our teams to work to completely rebuild the product and technology strategies. If you fail to comply [with the new EU rules], the weight of fines you are hit with can threaten the company’s existence,” he added.
