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FCA headquarters in Auburn, Michigan: 99 percent approval
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Paul Sancya / AP
"We are ready for this merger," said PSA CEO Carlos Tavares: The shareholders of his automobile company, which also includes the German manufacturer Opel, as well as the shareholders of Fiat Chrysler (FCA), have agreed to merge the two companies into the new car company Stellantis agreed.
"Stellantis will be one of the world's leading vehicle manufacturers," said FCA Chairman John Elkann.
Even more important is that a company emerges with the size, the resources, the diversity and the know-how to "successfully seize the opportunities of a new era".
The 44-year-old Elkann heads the FCA group and belongs to the Agnelli family of entrepreneurs, which Fiat co-founded as an automobile manufacturer and developed it into a major European car brand.
In the new group, Elkann will be head of the board of directors and the 62-year-old PSA boss Tavares will be the new CEO.
The Portuguese Tavares had put the PSA group around Peugeot and Citroën back on the road and took over the traditional German brand Opel and thus earned a reputation as a successful restructuring company - just a few years after the near bankruptcy of PSA and the entry of the French state and Chinese investors.
Opel was also back in the black after Tavares imposed a strict austerity program on the brand from 2017.
The EU competition watchdogs had recently approved the merger subject to certain conditions.
With the merger, the fourth largest car company in the world is to be created.
The new alliance with pillars in Europe and North America will lead 14 brands, including Opel, Peugeot, Citroën, Chrysler, Jeep, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Abarth, Dodge, Ram, to the luxury sports car maker Maserati.
Before the corona crisis, FCA and PSA together sold around 8.7 million vehicles per year, had a turnover of 170 billion euros and around 410,000 employees.
Only Volkswagen, Toyota and the Franco-Japanese Renault-Nissan network were larger in 2019.
Too much capacity for five million cars
PSA's main shareholders with double voting rights, including the founding family Peugeot, Chinese partner Dongfeng and the French state, were the first to approve the more than 50 billion dollar merger at an extraordinary general meeting.
The other PPE owners then agreed at a meeting also held online.
Later, the shareholders of FCA voted with over 99 percent for the mega merger, including the Agnelli holding Exor.
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Stellantis logo: new home of 14 brands
Photo: COMMUNICATION FCA / via REUTERS
Like all global automakers, Stellantis will spend billions in the coming years to switch the offering to cars, digital services and self-driving vehicles.
According to experts, Tavares could raise the money for the investments and the upcoming restructuring through savings and the inflow of funds from the high-margin Jeep brand SUVs and the Ram pick-ups in the USA.
According to estimates by the LMC consultancy, Stellantis could close factories around the world with a total capacity in the order of magnitude of Ford's annual production (most recently a good five million units).
PSA and FCA have stated that the joint group could reduce its combined annual costs by five billion euros without plant closings.
However, analysts expect some factories to close.
Among other things, the Opel plant in Ellesmere Port, UK, has long been considered endangered.
The billion-dollar merger is due to be completed on January 16, previously the end of March.
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apr / dpa / Reuters