Industry News: PSA Group Has 15 States As Possible Entry Points For Return To America

[William Maley]

PSA Group has been hard at work on its plan to return to the U.S. by 2026. They already have a brand chosen that will lead the launch (bur aren't saying if it will be Citroen, DS, Peugeot, or the recently acquired Opel/Vauxhall) and has open their U.S. headquarters in Georgia. The next step is figuring out where they'll begin selling vehicles.

Larry Dominique, CEO of PSA Group North America told reporters that he has his eyes on 15 states to launch. Among the states mentioned include,

• Arizona
• California
• Florida
• Georgia
• Illinois
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New York
• North Carolina
• Texas
• Virginia
• Washington

"Those states are of the most interest to me at this point in time because they're high volume and import receptive," Dominique told Automotive News.

But there is an elephant in the room concerning PSA's plan, tariffs. As we have been reporting for the past couple of months, the U.S. Commerce Department is conducting an investigation into imported cars and car parts as a matter of national security. This could result in vehicles being hit with a 25 percent tariff. 

“Tariffs are on our minds. Tariffs impact how fast and at what price point we import vehicles into the U.S. I’m crossing my fingers," said Dominique.

According to Bloomberg, PSA Group could look into entering the Canadian market first and play the waiting game for the U.S. if tariffs do go into effect. The company may also offer more expensive vehicles to balance out the hit made by tariffs.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), Bloomberg

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[Drew Dowdell]

It will be the DC to Boston corridor plus California/Oregon/Washington with a quick move into Nevada/Arizona 

[G. David Felt]

I would agree with Drew on the focus areas and yet all of this is for naught if quality is not there and we continue on the stupid destructive path of a tariff war.

[riviera74]

Warning to all: tariff wars tend to lead to shooting wars.  As for PSA, what can they offer that cannot be filled by the Japanese or the Koreans or the Germans?

[Robert Hall]

I assume their US entries would be CUVs like the DS7 and Cactus.   The Cactus did have some Citroen weirdness, but less so w/ the latest version.   For any French brand to succeed in the US, they would need to play up French aspects and the weirdness when compared to the generic Asian brands or Germans.

[Drew Dowdell]

1 hour ago, riviera74 said:

Warning to all: tariff wars tend to lead to shooting wars.  As for PSA, what can they offer that cannot be filled by the Japanese or the Koreans or the Germans?

 

I wonder about that. What's to say that everyone else doesn't just ignore the US and enter into trade agreements leaving us out. Japan and the EU just signed one.

 

[balthazar]

29 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I wonder about that. What's to say that everyone else doesn't just ignore the US and enter into trade agreements leaving us out. Japan and the EU just signed one.

JAPAN IS PULLING OUT OF THE US MARKET???

[daves87rs]

Simply put, I don't see the move happening....you'll more likely see Geely or another Chinese company roll in...there is a fat opening for cheaper cars....

[G. David Felt]

12 hours ago, riviera74 said:

Warning to all: tariff wars tend to lead to shooting wars.  As for PSA, what can they offer that cannot be filled by the Japanese or the Koreans or the Germans?

Yes in the past the tariff wars ended up being a shooting war. Hopefully humanity is past that and can see the destruction a shooting war would cause.

PSA, Dead Horse walking. Their weirdness is too weird for the US market. They would have to really come in with a Quality product that can sell on feature functions not already found as you stated by the Asian or Germans auto companies.

Unlike Terrible quality Alfa that should have been left dead, PSA would be going down a path that left a very bad taste in Americans mouth. I doubt they would have much more success now than they did then.

PSA is one company I can see going away on the global stage and due to gov support staying a french weirdness only.

[Drew Dowdell]

16 hours ago, balthazar said:

JAPAN IS PULLING OUT OF THE US MARKET???

Not what I said. 

But if they did, they'd have a lot of factories to give up. Toyota builds a higher percentage of its vehicles in the US than Buick does.  Hyundai and Kia aren't far behind. 

[Drew Dowdell]

6 hours ago, dfelt said:

Yes in the past the tariff wars ended up being a shooting war. Hopefully humanity is past that and can see the destruction a shooting war would cause.

PSA, Dead Horse walking. Their weirdness is too weird for the US market. They would have to really come in with a Quality product that can sell on feature functions not already found as you stated by the Asian or Germans auto companies.

Unlike Terrible quality Alfa that should have been left dead, PSA would be going down a path that left a very bad taste in Americans mouth. I doubt they would have much more success now than they did then.

PSA is one company I can see going away on the global stage and due to gov support staying a french weirdness only.

I'm fairly certain what they'll bring over is the Peugot line or DS line which is pretty conventional and could be mistaken for a luxury Kia