The case is expected to make a great noise beyond the Rhine. In its efforts to redress its subsidiary Opel, the car manufacturer PSA could separate the heart from the German brand, which was acquired in march 2017 : the key sectors of its research and development centre (R&D). According to our information, the group is a French car is currently seeking to dispose of a large part of this center, almost 4,000 employees would be affected. The R&D was presented until now as the pearl of the Opel and the guarantor of its identity engineering ” made in Germany “. The centre currently employs 8,000 employees. Contacted by The World, the management of Opel did not want to react to this information. An additional source close to the governing bodies of PSA indicates that a project of transfer of the R&D of Opel is in fact in the pipes but it would only involve a quarter of the workforce.
PSA and the management of Opel has probed in recent months several companies of automotive engineering, in order that they submit proposals for redemption. The businesses approached are four providers in automotive engineering : the French Altran, Akka and Segula, and the German Bertrandt. Altran seems to be particularly advanced in the discussions.
A Rueil-Malmaison (Hauts-de-Seine), the headquarters of PSA, a spokesman for the group states : “No such decision has been taken. “Under-heard” for the moment “, because soon enough the tongues loosen. “Half of the research activity and the development of Opel is divided across the Atlantic with General Motors slipped a top-frame. The engineers, themselves, remained in Germany. ”
The document that we have been able to consult, dated in mid-April, reveals that PSA is aiming to amputate widely the R&D of its German subsidiary. It offers the buyer the possible four sectors of activity, among the more traditional : “Vehicle Engineering” (engineering vehicle), rear-wheel drive…
