Opel/Vauxhall Plant Tapped for New PSA Engines

All new PSA Group vehicles will be developed at the French automaker’s Engineering Center in Rüsselsheim, Germany.

With Vauxhall, Opel, Peugeot, Citroën and DS Automobiles all under one roof, PSA is pooling its strengths and creating synergies to maximize the brands’ potential.

All PSA cars and most light-commercial vehicles are derived from two platforms, the Common Modular Platform and the Efficient Modular Platform.

The platform is the decisive factor for cost-efficient automobile manufacturing and represents 60% of materials costs. The PSA platforms are complemented with modules for engines, seats, restraints, cockpits and infotainment systems that can be used in various models.

“Thanks to the jointly used platforms, we will – depending on the programs – save between 20% and 50% of the development costs of every new Vauxhall/Opel model compared to its predecessor,” Opel/Vauxhall CEO Michael Lohscheller says.

The electrification of the Vauxhall product portfolio is at the core of the strategic plan as one of PSA’s main goals of meeting the European Union’s carbon-dioxide limit of 95 g/km by 2020.

The Vauxhall model range is quickly moving to PSA’s flexible and electrified platforms. By 2024, all Opel/Vauxhall passenger cars will be based on these multi-energy platforms.

Opel/Vauxhall will be a fully electrified European car brand by 2024.

Electrification of the LCV portfolio begins in 2020. All of PSA’s European car lines eventually will be electrified, either with a battery-electric or plug-in hybrid-electric variant, alongside models powered by high-efficiency combustion engines.

Vauxhall alone will have three electrified model lines on the market by 2020: the Grandland X as a PHEV and the next-generation Corsa with a battery-electric variant.

The engineering team at Rüsselsheim is involved in developing the battery-powered Corsa variant. Both the new Corsa and the electric variant will be built in Zaragoza, Spain.

The Engineering Center, run by Opel/Vauxhall when the automaker was a General Motors subsidiary, will take on the global responsibility for the development of the next generation of high-efficiency gasoline engines for all PSA brands.

PSA says the next generation of 4-cyl. engines will be optimized for operation in combination with electric motors and will be used in hybrids’ drivetrains. Market introduction will begin in 2022.

The new generation of engines is designated for use in all PSA brands in China, Europe and North America, and is to meet those markets’ future emissions standards while delivering low fuel consumption.

PSA has established 15 Centers of Competence in Rüsselsheim. The competence teams complement each other in a global network for the benefit of all five group brands. The centers allow for universal technical standards within PSA.