Carlos Tavares , the Portuguese CEO who has led Grupo PSA since 2013, was the man responsible for transforming the French group from “top to bottom” and for giving it more financial muscle.
Now it's time to try to repeat the feat with Opel. We recall that with the acquisition of Opel by the PSA Group, this automobile group rose to 2nd place in the ranking of European manufacturers, surpassing the Renault-Nissan alliance (3rd place) and surpassed only by the Volkswagen Group (1st place).
the diagnosis
On the sidelines of the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show, Carlos Tavares focused on one of the biggest problems that Opel is currently facing: efficiency.
The differences I've seen so far are considerable. (…) PSA's factories are more productive and efficient than Opel's.”
The German publication Automobilwoche even puts forward concrete numbers. In the second quarter of the year alone, Opel's inefficiency cost the brand's coffers €4 million a day.
This diagnosis was reinforced by the visits that Carlos Tavares made recently to the Opel factories in Zaragoza (Spain) and Russell (Germany) and is supported by the analysis of LMC Automotive.
According to the analysis of this consultancy specializing in the automotive industry, the Spanish Opel plant is operating at 78% of maximum capacity, Eisenach is at 65% and Russellsheim at just 51%. In comparative terms, the PSA Group's Vigo and Sochaux factories are operating at 78% and 81%. Possy and Mulhouse in France even reach 100%.
The cure
For now, Carlos Tavares puts aside the Opel factory closure scenario. According to the Portuguese CEO, who, according to one of his former colleagues, "went into the automobile area like Obelix in the cauldron of magic potion when he was little", the path goes through increasing efficiency and not increasing sales volume.
I'm not betting Opel's future on increased sales. […] we would be exposed to changing market demand.
The strategy is to be able to do the same with fewer resources: improve procedures and review the entire production chain (from the supplier to the assembly line). A strategy that worked 4 years ago, when Carlos Tavares found the PSA Group in a financially complicated situation. Since then, the PSA Group's breakeven has gone from 2.6 million cars in 2013 to 1.6 million in 2015.
The equation is simple. It's all about efficiency. If we are more efficient we will be more profitable. If we are more profitable, we will be more sustainable. And if we are more sustainable, nobody has to worry about their work.
In this strategy, the use of component sharing between Opel and the PSA Group will be one of the most important points. Models such as the Opel Crossland X and Grandland X are practical examples of Opel models that already use 100% Gallic technology.
Source: Automotive News and Reuters