The FCA Group, consisting of Fiat and Chrysler, and the PSA Group, consisting of Peugeot, Citroën and Opel, today formalized the merger. In a joint press release, the two automotive giants agreed on a 50% merger that will make up the fourth largest player in the automotive sector.

The merger between FCA and PSA

The operation will give rise to a new holding company, based in the Netherlands, which last year, with their respective sales, totaled about 8.7 million vehicles put on the road. Better than the new FCA-PSA group have done only Volkswagen, with about 10.8 million vehicles sold, Toyota, with about 10.5 million, and Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, with 10.3 million. Behind FCA-PSA will probably be General Motors and Hyundai-Kia.

The board of directors of the new company, consisting of eleven members, will be chaired by John Elkann, while the CEO of the company will be Carlos Tevez. With a merger cost of €2.8 billion, the agreement is expected to produce an estimated annual saving of about €3.7 billion, without any plant closure. The turnover of the new company is expected to exceed 170 billion euros, with an operating profit of 11 billion euros.

Smet and the FCA group

Satisfaction was expressed by the top management of the Smet Group in regards to the operation: «Our congratulations to the president John Elkann and his team: their extraordinary work has contributed to the birth of a new global giant in the automotive sector. As a strategic logistics partner, we are even more proud to be part of this sector today».