PSA Group and GM?

[Richard_C]

Press speculation today that Peugeot and GM are in talks about an alliance. Many (many) moons ago, SAAB entered an alliance with GM .............

[Deanxm]

not asbad as you might think, Vauxhalls of old were awefull cars and every manufacturer GM touched turned to poo but the modern Vauxhall range are actualy rather nice to look at, nice to drive too so i dont think its going to be saab all over again but then it depends on the deal that psa walk away with and who it stands to benifit the most.

D

[CitroJim]

Oh gawd no. A Peugeot Corsa Noooooooooo...

Maybe GM realise that can't make cars for toffee and know PSA make the best so... Badge Engineering...

A Poxhall Corset actually a C3 behind the badge... That would make sense... How about a SAAB C5?

[myglaren]

I rather think that Fiat are desperately trying to extricate themselves from their alliance with GM.

[citronut]

i thought Toyota, Fiat and possibly Ford have already goit something going on with PSA,

regards malcolm

[Citroenmad]

not asbad as you might think, Vauxhalls of old were awefull cars and every manufacturer GM touched turned to poo but the modern Vauxhall range are actualy rather nice to look at, nice to drive too so i dont think its going to be saab all over again but then it depends on the deal that psa walk away with and who it stands to benifit the most.

D

I wouldn't go that far!

The current Corsa is really a Fiat Grande Punto - they really are pretty dull to drive, though many new cars are. They also use the Fiat 1.3CDTi diesel engine which has been pretty riddled with faults, especially in its early life.

The Insignia looks great in my opinion, however I know a few people with them and they all say the previous Vectra was better. So how bad can it be! They appear to have a patchy reliability record too, with ECUs being a problem.

I do like the new Astra and especially the Astra GTC, though not sure what they are like to drive or live with.

For me Peugeot and Citroen have all but lost my interest now, the cars are either pretty boring or trying to be stylish for the sake of it, putting everything else second. I mean look at the rear doors on a DS4, how many kids eyes are they going to damage, putting a corner on a door, its hideous. I doubt we will see another hydropneumatic Citroen either, given that only one model of the C5 gets it now and the C6 is dead. No huge estate car is offered, the models actually have less space than the previous ones etc. I liked big, huge, spacious Citroens with an excellent ride and that French flair, its all but gone from the range now.

Peugeot, well they are just the same, though often just look odd or weird in the chase to become stylish.

So for me it wouldnt be the end if Peugeot did join forces with GM, as im losing interest as it is. I wonder what size or segment of car they are thinking of making together.

It could well be a good thing, maybe. The PSA and Toyota venture worked very well as the C1/107 and Aygo are pretty massive sellers. Though the PSA and Mitsubishi 4x4s were never going to catch on really.

Before long every car will be the same, you'll just be able to choose a slightly different bodystyle.

[addo]

Before long every car will be the same, you'll just be able to choose a slightly different bodystyle.

The Seppos have been doing this for years. Heard of NASCAR?

[Stekelly]

not asbad as you might think, Vauxhalls of old were awefull cars and every manufacturer GM touched turned to poo but the modern Vauxhall range are actualy rather nice to look at, nice to drive too so i dont think its going to be saab all over again but then it depends on the deal that psa walk away with and who it stands to benifit the most.

D

How modern are you taking? I find the last model Vectra and the others in that generation vile things altogether. Everything was horribly square. Uncomfortable interiors and generally just not nice at all. I've had Zafiras 3 times as hire cars and each one just serve to increase my hate for the Zafira.

[Deanxm]

I suppose the last 18 months? Vectra's in any shape are horrible and bland, i had a Cav SRI and that was the same really, just bland looking, bland handling and performing.
Not a lot of Love for Vauxhall on here then? i must admit altough great things could happen the chances they will are slim, it will end up being a platform/engine sharing exercise that will result (as Chris has already said) in another colection of samie bland cars.

D

[KP]

having driven an insignia its a horrible place to be inside and i felt the drivers seat was very bad and actually gave me leg ache no matter where i moved it to...

Where i work the guys that use hire cars the most have put down on their travel forms 'NO FORD/VAUXHALL/NISSAN' and rejected the cars when they still tried to drop them off but the hire company soon got wind and corrected their errors and it doesn't happen anymore

[Timmo]

have never been a fan of vauxhall, with exception of the Monaro! but thats a Holden, subsidury of rather than made by!!
in the years of cleaning cars, the vauxhalls were Always the worst, cheap Nasty carpets, cheap plastics, cheap cloth, sweaty seats, etc. i know a fair few mobile guys that wont clean them any more for the hassle and frustration they cause!! the nissans werent far behind!! carpets like loosely flocked cardboard!! not like our cars with a decent pile in the floor covering!! but is all down to price! if they can save ££ with cheap carpet and weight then Whack it in!! and in honesty, how many of the modern cars last out 10 years now?? most have fallen to bits!
the car peeps have had interbrand relationships for years, sharing engines or platforms, bmw and peugeot shared the same engine for the mini and thew 207 in both petrol and diesel, but bmw had the release on it first and pug had to wait for them to release figures for it before they c ould!!
toyota was and i believe still is the Wealthiest car manu. out there, it doesnt have many tie ins with others, and only a few companies under it, unlike GM, VAG etc. and were rumoured to have the funds in the bank to be able to buy out any one of the other comapnies!
is all quite interesting reading into the inns and outs, but big companies like psa arnt going to let GM that was Properly Struggling not too long ago, walk over them on a deal!! more like it'll be most their benefit!

there are very few new cars out there that actually excite me at the thought of driving them, seems gone are the days of walking out the house and looking forward to the drive to work in the car, is now much of a muchness!

[Northern_Mike]

I doubt we will see another hydropneumatic Citroën either, given that only one model of the C5 gets it now and the C6 is dead. No huge estate car is offered, the models actually have less space than the previous ones etc. I liked big, huge, spacious Citroëns with an excellent ride and that French flair, its all but gone from the range now. .

This is down to sensibility and economics. However nice and large the cars were, they were also often unreliable, depreciated like stones dropped from a balloon and to the uninitiated, very complex. They built a bad reputation. The CX was a rot box. We used to get them in at 3 years old when I worked for Citroen with bad rot in some places. They weren't the most reliable of things. This worked against the XM, which was slightly better, but not hugely. OK, it didn't rot, but the ride was harsh in comparison to a BMW 5-Series on all but the smoothest of surfaces. I confirm this, having had both. Add that to the fact the trend has been moving to smaller cars for some time, then the XM was really doomed by mid-90s. The C6 IMO was doomed before it was ever made. It looks nice, but that seems to be one of it's few redeeming factors.

PSA seem to have finally got the idea that no one wants a huge French (estate) car, and that if they do, they sure as hell aren't going to pay £25-35 grand for one. Those that would use them are people like you and I, who'd pay no more than £1500 for one. Therein lies the problem. It doesn't help that if you say to people "what does a Citroen mean to you?" and they automatically say "that funny little 2CV.." BMW might have the same issue if people automatically thought of the Isetta bubble car , or VW if people thought (realised?) the Beetle was the awful piece of crap it actually was, rather than looking at it with rose-tinted spectacles and thinking it was some cool, mobilising hippy-car.

I don't know why it's taken them (PSA) nearly 30 years to realise this when everyone else already had.

[Citroenmad]

So your saying Citroen had it wrong and they should have built dull, boring and bland cars from the start? Not only that but smaller cars too. So I guess this site would not have existed and none of the members would have ever bought a Citroen Its not as if Citroens sales have been very much below rivals, in fact Citroen offered some of the best selling cars around.

Thats why we have Citroens, as most other cars are too dull, boring and soul distroying!

Its why few of the current range interest me, as they are like everything else.

[lexi]

Car enthuisiasm is rarely a sales pleasing thing.. Look at old Landys. Sensible head on......rubbish. It is the pleasure and pain that keeps interest going .

I do agree with most of the last 2 posts though.

[Norlander]

I don't know why it's taken them (PSA) nearly 30 years to realise this when everyone else already had.

What about the GS/GSA series, and the ZX -- they were ideal size,
and had a definite identity (ie. not blandly mistakeable for anything else).