Sergio Marchionne, head of the Fiat and Chrysler groups is predicting that the next major merger in the automotive industry will involve France's largest automaker, the PSA Peugeot-Citroen Group.
"The next merger will probably be French," Marchionne told reporters in Rome today. "They [PSA] tried with Mitsubishi and they will try with someone else."
If the recent Renault-Nissan / Daimler share exchange is anything to go by, it's the cool thing to do.
Marchionne has agreed in the past that partnering up with Europe's second-largest manufacturer would be a "marriage made in heaven."
A report on Business Week goes on to reiterate Marchionne's beliefs: to survive globally, international manufacturers need to build "at least 5 million cars".
Merging with the French Group, which built 3.2 million cars last year, would put the theoretical mega-company over that threshold as Fiat and Chrysler built approximately 2 million and 1.3 million car last year, respectively.
The deal could make big sense to PSA, which is looking to share development, parts, and production costs in a world where everyone seems to be playing team-up musical chairs for survival.
By Phil Alex
Via: Businessweek
