Groupe PSA makes no secret of its eager return to the North American market. Now it appears that a concrete plan is ready for three years from now.
PSA has, in a sense, already had a foothold in the United States since 2017. Then it set up a North American branch that included car sharing services Free2Move and TravelCar. Of course that was only a step towards the big goal: selling cars in the US. That goal has been a dot on the horizon for years, but now it is becoming more concrete. The chief executive of the North American arm of PSA, Larry Dominique, is late The Detroit Bureau know that 2023 is the year in which people want to start selling cars again.
According to Dominique, Peugeot is the brand that should initially do it for PSA in the United States. Historically, this is also the most responsible; Peugeot sold the 404 and 505 in the US in the past. Citroën is almost exclusively known for the DS, and Opel is now the odd one out from GM. Nevertheless, it cannot be ruled out that Peugeot’s sister brands will eventually make the crossing.
The first chapter of Peugeot’s return was the setting up of the mobility services. The next step is to use your own cars for this. Subsequently, the intention is that the cars will be sold again. According to Dominique, the focus is on ‘franchise dealers’, ie existing dealers who want to add Peugeot to the range. They are also fully committed to online sales. A phenomenon that, according to Dominique, is rapidly gaining wider acceptance, partly because of the current situation in the world.
The fact that PSA is merging with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will no doubt help. Where FCA hopes to get more grain on the European market than is currently the case, PSA can use the expertise of the American branch of the group to sell cars for the first time since 1991.