7:30 am, January 28, 2013
GM has given further details about its tie in with PSA – revealing that both firms’ future MPVs will share development.
A release from GM suggests that they will be in charge of developing the next B-segment MPV for both Opel/Vauxhall and Peugeot Citroen – meaning that both the next Vauxhall Meriva, Citroen C3 Picasso and any similarly sized Peugeot models will be developed by GM.
Despite leading the development of these models however, they won’t be based on GM platforms – but Peugeot Citroen’s.
Similarly, the makers’ next C-segment MPVs will also have PSA underpinnings – effectively meaning that the next C4 Picasso, 5008 and Zafira will all be built on a shared French platform.
It’s unclear whether these MPVs’ development will also be shared, or GM and PSA will design their own respective models.
However, the two makers will be sharing development of the ‘updated’ B-segment platform for ‘low emission vehicles’, and a new range of power-plants based on PSA’s small petrol engines will be codeveloped by the firms.
This isn’t the first time GM have co-developed models with other manufacturers – the current Opel/Vauxhall Corsa and Meriva are based on a platform shared with Fiat’s Grande Punto and Alfa Romeo Mito, while their Agila city car was developed with Suzuki.
Similarly, Peugeot and Citroen are no strangers to development sharing – with their now deceased 4007 and C-Crosser models based on the Mitsubishi Outlander SUV, and the 107 and C1 city cars jointly developed with Toyota.
