It’s an odd pairing when BMW and PSA Peugeot-Citroen formed their initial partnership. BMW, a German conglomerate building premium performance and luxury automobiles and controlling a couple small but iconic British marques, and PSA, a grouping of two run-of-the-mill mass-production French brands. Their products don’t overlap much, but the all but total lack of competition is probably what helps them get along. No competition means no threat.Now the two groups are looking at expanding their cooperation along the lines of their current partnership.
PSA developed and builds the engines for the Mini, the French firm imparting their expertise with small engines on their Bavarian friends who are more adept at high-output performance powerplants. PSA and BMW are now undertaking a study to assess new ways the two can collaborate, and if they both like the findings, we may see Peugeot-Citroen engines in other BMW products, and maybe vice-versa.
Now isn’t it so much nicer when the Germans and the French get along?
It is often a surprise to see how much cross over there is between major car manufacturers. I think now more than ever it is important to strengthen these relationships to make sure that there is still a strong and diverse selection of car manufacturers. Prehaps if the UK car market had done this years ago it wouldn’t be in the state it is now (virtually no major manufacturers). Thank you for your post, a very interesting blog over all.