MILAN — PSA Group’s small-car platforms should be favored if plans to merge PSA and Fiat Chrysler go ahead, PSA executive Gaetano Thorel said.
PSA and FCA executives are finalizing discussions to merge the two automakers, a move that will result in choices being made about which technologies to adopt in the combined entity.
“On smaller segments PSA has the platforms which allowed the group to make the highest margins in Europe among all the automakers, so I find it reasonable that these platforms might be used in the future on some FCA models too,” said Thorel, who is PSA’s managing director for Italy.
“On the other hand, FCA has got RAM and Jeep, and I find it reasonable that the new group might use those platforms in that segment,” Thorel said.
Consultancy IHS Markit projected in a recent report that some 1.5 million FCA cars may shift onto PSA’s platforms by 2025.
FCA has become more heavily-geared towards pickups and SUVs since the 2009 tie-up between Fiat and U.S.-centric Chrysler.
Fiat has a heritage in small cars. Its Panda and Fiat 500 models are Europe’s top-selling minicars. A 500 electric version, developed with one of the company’s own platforms, is due to be unveiled next July.
Fiat brand’s lack of new products in Europe has caused its market share has fallen to 4.2 percent in the first 11 months, according to data from industry association ACEA.
Depending on the production cycle, some FCA models such as the Jeep Renegade, Fiat Doblo van or Alfa Romeo’s upcoming compact SUV, which was previewed by the Tonale concept at the Geneva auto show in March, could be likely candidates to shift onto PSA vehicle structures, analysts have said.
PSA’s CMP platform underpins the new Opel Corsa and Peugeot 208 small-segment cars including battery-powered versions.
FCA and PSA aim to reach a binding agreement to create a $50 billion company in the coming weeks.