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PSA CEO Carlos Tavares suggested the acquisition of the GM European division of the company could cause a return of the Opel brand in the Russian market.
The French carmaker announced on 2 3 billion agreement to acquire the European division of GM, which includes Opel and Vauxhall, last month.
GM pulled the entire Russian market in 2015 when he stopped building cars at its plant in St. Petersburg photographed, and the end of the manufacturing contract with Russian partners Gaz in Nizhny Novgorod and Kaliningrad Avtotor.
Speaking to the Russian RT time last month, Tavares said that only revive the Opel production in Russia would be considered when PSA obtained the intellectual property rights for the brand, assuming that there was a strong case for it.
The purchase of Opel by the PSA Group appears to have disrupted the ongoing negotiations on a renewed activity in old GM plant in St. Petersburg, however.
According Maskim Meiksin, head of the committee of St. Petersburg industrial policy and innovation, the authorities of the city of St. Petersburg have made progress with GM on the plant's reopening plans, with an announcement expected this summer Meiksin stressed that the plant was part of GM Europe, adding that he could not say with certainty whether the agreement with the PSA Group would include.
A source at the city hall of St. Petersburg suggested the agreement between GM and PSA had brought some uncertainty to the idea of reviving the factory in St. Petersburg, which suggests that this recovery was more probably under the ownership of GM.
Kaluga could benefit Russian automotive expert, Igor Morjaretto, told RT that the PSA Group could begin assembling Opel cars at the plant in Kaluga, where the automaker already produces the Peugeot and Citroën models.
Morjaretto said that such a measure would be logical that the plant was running at 20 capacity, with limited demand for its brands domestically Adding assembly Opel increase the use and profitability LA- low, he said.
PSA Group would need time to evaluate it, make an announcement about the return Opel to Russia more likely in 2018 than in 2017, added Morjaretto.
PSA has made no official statement on the matter until now a PCMA Rus spokesman said the automotive supply that was not intended for Opel takeover company to be completed before the end of 2017 the automaker would not comment so far on the impact of the sale.
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