January 26: PSA Group - come on over!

 PSA Group? Done any reading in your paper's business section or a car site on the net in the past few months? If you had, you'd recognize this company name and not just assume it was something to do with testing for prostate cancer (man, I'm way too familiar with that). The news was that this French group, which includes Citroen and Peugeot (remember them?) had just bought Opel from General Motors. If you don't recall those two French car names and if you are of a certain age, they may mean squat to you, here are a couple of their old classics, the 408 and Batman's favorite ride, the Citroen SM.

Both brands withdrew from the North American market many years ago, when their not so special cars' sales slowly ground to a near halt. Now they have brought Opel into the fold and once again have focused those avarice corporate eyes on our market. How serious are they? Very, since they are in the process of hiring people to work in the North American office, which will be in Atlanta.

They have anything interesting? I think so, as a quick look at the Citroen line shows a couple of worthy candidates for our suv lovin' market, the C3 Aircross and below it the C4 Cactus..........

Both are compact suvs and you all know that that us North Americans go after suvs like a starving dog goes after a bone or President Trump, a good lie.

From the Opel line there are also a handful of interesting vehicles, but they may leave them out of the fray for awhile, since GM has rechristened them as Buicks for our market. Expect that to change in a few years.

Sedans?

How about this handsome Peugoet 508? Sure, Barry, just the thing to gather dust in the PSA showrooms, as buyers rush past it to drool over some sort of suv type vehicle. But maybe make a few minor changes and it could be possible to actually sell something resembling a make believe suv........

You know the drill, if not, Google Volvo Cross Country or even better Subaru Outback to see what I mean. But let's get back to what actually turns our North American crank, something like this Peugeot adorned with all those interesting design features that are making the scene these days.........

Being a practical kind of guy and knowing how electric cars, etc are plugging into everyone's save the planet vibe, I see a real need for the Citroen E-Mehari, whatever the heck it is........

Come on you people, don't you feel the need for a bit of whimsy in every showroom? Give the salespeople something to joke about, "What, you actually want one of those?". No wonder the PSA Group is rushing to our North American market.

See a place for any of these "foreign to us" vehicles on our shores? Well, somebody does and folks, it's all about choice. I've never figured out how a market like Europe, which has many more brands fighting it out for market share, manages to do it. Stay tuned, as it's going to get interesting, as these new Europeans, new South Koreans and new Chinese companies muscle their way into our hearts, minds and driveways.

Somebody is going to suffer, but it won't be us consumers.

Until next time.......