New company expected to be fourth-largest automaker
Merger will spread development costs, but brands still behind in China
It’s almost completely finished: The merger of Fiat Chrysler and Groupe PSA has been approved by shareholders on both sides and the deal is now just waiting for final clearances. It’s expected to be all done and dusted on January 16th.
The announcement came earlier today and said that “an overwhelming majority” of shareholders, which the announcement defined as being more than 99 percent of votes cast, were in favour of the merger that would form the new company Stellantis.
Investors in both companies placed their votes today during two separate meetings, one for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and one for Groupe PSA. With regulatory approval already given by the European Commission and European Central Bank, there is little left to complete, and FCA and Groupe PSA say they expect the combination of the companies to be completed on the 16th. Following that, Stellantis shares are expected to begin trading on the 18th in Europe and the 19th in the US.
By combining FCA, which includes Fiat, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, and other brands like Maserati and Alfa Romeo with Groupe PSA’s Peugeot, Citroen, Opel and Vauxhall, the two hope to reach a much higher production capacity. A scale of models built closer to that of the largest automakers means reduced production costs and the ability to spread engineering budgets across many more vehicles. It’s possible that it could mean the return of small cars and crossovers to the Dodge or Chrysler badges as well, using platform sharing, or the return of some of the French brands to North America.
Stellantis will be run by current PSA CEO Carlos Tavares who is an expert on cost-cutting and restructuring. FCA and PSA estimated more than 5 billion euros in yearly savings once the companies are fully integrated.
