Opel-PSA Co-Development Deal Takes Shape With LCVs

MADRID – Opel/Vauxhall will join PSA Peugeot Citroen to assemble the next-generation Peugeot Partner and Citroen Berlingo light-commercial vehicles and Opel/Vauxhall Combo at PSA’s plant in Vigo, Spain.

Production of the three models, each using PSA’s EMP2 modular architecture, launches in 2018.

The Combo currently is assembled in Turkey by local automaker Tofas, which also produces the Fiat Doblo. The Combo also is known as the Combo C, a restyled Doblo.

Combined annual production of the Partner and Berlingo is targeted at 200,000 units. Neither Opel/Vauxhall nor PSA have commented on projected Combo output.

The LCVs to be built at Vigo are among several new-vehicle programs being jointly developed by PSA and Opel/Vauxhall parent General Motors.

The first, signed in 2012, comprises a compact multipurpose vehicle for Opel/Vauxhall; a compact CUV for Peugeot; a small car for the Opel, Vauxhall and Citroen brands; a midsize car for Opel, Vauxhall, Peugeot and Citroen; and a platform to underpin next-generation low-emissions Opel, Vauxhall and PSA small cars. The first of the finished products is due out by the end of 2016.

Under revisions to the agreement signed in 2013, the automakers will build Opel Meriva and Citroen C3 MPV models at Opel’s Figueruelas plant in Spain starting in 2016, and will launch assembly of the next-generation Peugeot 308 and Opel Zafira MPVs at PSA’s Sochaux, France, plant from 2017.