General Motors Co and PSA Peugeot Citroen have expanded their existing partnership agreement to include a cooperation between GM unit Opel and Peugeot’s car delivery group Gefco, according to Opel chief executive Karl-Friedrich Stracke. GM and Peugeot signed an alliance agreement in February that would entail shared purchasing, logistics and the joint development and production of vehicles and components, hoping to save at least $2 billion annually. Since inking the alliance in February, Peugeot has been strong in its position that several other technical partnerships would not be affected. However, the announced alliance expansion with GM drew flak from German carmaker BMW AG, which operates a joint venture with Peugeot known as BMW Peugeot Citroen Electrification or BPCE. BMW made an announcement of its own, saying that the joint venture, which makes hybrid car components, could be negatively affected by the expanded alliance between GM and Peugeot.
The German carmaker remarked that it wanted to ensure that BPCE could continue producing hybrid car components. A spokesman for BMW said that they are discussing conditions for Peugeot’s exit from BPCE, but they insist on making any payments to its partner since the company has invested more in the joint venture than PSA so far. The spokesman also said that BMW would take into account the amount of its investment into BPCE in any considerations about unwinding the alliance.
A spokesman for Peugeot said that the company is examining the impact of its alliance with GM on BPCM since it changed the conditions of the partnership. According to local daily La Tribune, BMW is eyeing to buy out some or all of Peugeot’s stake in the joint venture, since it did not like the French carmaker’s alliance with GM and was concerned about its partner’s financial stability.
