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Opel production in Eisenach: fourth largest car company in the world is created
Photo: Martin Schutt / dpa
The EU's competition watchdogs have approved the planned mega merger between the Opel parent company PSA and Fiat Chrysler (FCA).
However, approval is tied to the condition that the companies fully implement commitments, as the EU Commission announced on Monday.
The takeover will lead to the fourth largest car company in the world.
"We can approve the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot SA, as their commitments will facilitate the entry and expansion of new providers in the market for light commercial vehicles," said the responsible Vice President of the EU Commission, Margrethe Vestager.
"In the other markets in which the two automobile manufacturers are currently active, competition will not lose any of its dynamism even after the merger."
PSA with the brands Opel, Peugeot, DS and Citroën and FCA decided on their merger plans in December 2019.
According to earlier information, they should be implemented by the end of March next year at the latest.
Before the corona crisis, Fiat Chrysler and PSA together sold around 8.7 million vehicles per year and achieved a turnover of 170 billion euros.
Only Volkswagen, Toyota and the French-Japanese Renault-Nissan network were larger in 2019.
Chance for Toyota
The future group will be called "Stellantis", derived from the Latin word for star - "Stella".
The individual brand names such as Opel, Peugeot, Citroën, Chrysler, Jeep, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Abarth or Dodge are retained.
The EU competition watchdogs initiated an in-depth examination of the merger in mid-July because they feared that the planned merger could restrict competition in the market for light commercial vehicles with a total weight of up to 3.5 tons.
In many countries, either PSA or FCA is the market leader for light commercial vehicles, and the merger would mean that one of the most important competitors would be eliminated there.
Now companies essentially have to keep two promises.
On the one hand, an existing cooperation between PSA and Toyota is to be expanded, according to which PSA manufactures light commercial vehicles for Toyota for sale in the EU.
On the other hand, the repair and maintenance contracts of PSA and FCA with their workshops are to be changed.
For example, it should no longer be prescribed that there are reception or waiting areas reserved for FCA / PSA commercial vehicles.
The use of tools from the two manufacturers for repairing light commercial vehicles of other brands should also be allowed.
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mik / dpa
