Merkel told to do everything possible to get Opel jobs in Germany February 17, 2017
Discussions are progressing well ahead of a meeting of the PSA Board of Directors to be held before the tie-up could be unveiled, people close to the discussions said, adding the deal could be announced as early as Monday, the day before the fair Geneva motor.
The negotiations are not concluded, people warned, and there is still no guarantee of a final agreement can not be reached, or that the Board approve PSA.
Things are progressing as they should, said a source close to PSA There is a sense of confidence now.
PSA and Opel spokesman declined to comment.
The two automakers, which already share technology and production in an existing European alliance, confirmed last month they were negotiating an outright acquisition of Opel and its British Vauxhall brand PSA, based in Paris, sparking widespread concern about possible job cuts.
The first models jointly developed as part of their five-year partnership will be exhibited at the Geneva show, which opens to the press on Tuesday.
PSA CEO Carlos Tavares said last week a full acquisition of Opel was the opportunity to create a European champion in the automotive and quickly exceed 5 million annual vehicles The French automaker also provides savings of up to 2 billion of euros 2 1 billion from the tie-up, the sources said.
Difficulties arose quickly, however, the future of a retirement 10 billion deficit almost Opel and GM demand that the mark is prohibited to foreign competition under the ownership of PSA against its own range Chevrolet.
Analysts including Barclays Alexis Albert put the deficit of European pension GM between 8 billion and 10 billion German operations represent the part of the lion Opel and British Vauxhall unit for 1 1 billion.
The talks appeared to reach an impasse this week that GM has called for restrictions on sales of Opel in China back to cover part of the pension hole, people with knowledge of the matter said GM also sought to limit its contribution pensions to 1-2 billion euros, said.
PSA GM sign that she could not make a case in which it charges the bulk of the pension deficit, several sources boss Mary Barra GM publicly sounded a cautious note of when asked about a sale of Opel Tuesday.
We have done much to improve the business, but we're exploring opportunities to see if we can accelerate that even more because the scale does matter in this case, Barra told reporters.
Car manufacturers have since closed the gap on pensions and so-called non-competition agreements sought by GM, the people said, although it is unclear how or whether they have been resolved, we are making progress all days, said another source based in Paris.
In his public comments February 23 CEO Tavares said he saw the export potential of the Opel brand in PSA property, however, much of the dependent current Opel range subsist for years on technology and shared rooms with other GM marks.
Detroit-based GM has pushed for an agreement banning Opel models legacy markets, including China, Russia and Latin America, sources said.
Tavares also said its board PSA quickly redevelop the basis of Opel range with its own technologies to realize quick savings, sources told Reuters last week.
Additional reporting by Pamela Barbaglia in London, Matthieu Protard in Paris and Arno Schuetze in Frankfurt; Edited by Mark Potter.
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