• Peugeot buys Vauxhall, becoming the French car giant’s first major acquisition since acquiring Chrysler Europe.
• Potential job losses could happen once the acquisition is finalised.
• Production of several car models from Vauxhall and Opel will remain unaffected.
• There have been fears of Vauxhall leaving the UK following after Brexit.

Groupe PSA, or better known as PSA Peugeot Citroen, has confirmed that they have agreed to acquire Vauxhall Motors and Opel from its owner General Motors for €2.2 billion (£1.9 billion).

The French car manufacturer, which owns Peugeot, Citroen and DS, announced in a statement that their intention to manage the expanded group by capitalising on their respective brand identities and honouring existing commitments to workers.

This comes after 2016 became the sixteenth consecutive loss-making year for GM in Europe, which declared bankruptcy in 2009, resulting in the discontinuation of the Hummer, Saturn and Pontiac brands the following year, the sale of Saab to Spyker in the same year, along with the discontinuation of the Daewoo brand in South Korea in 2012 and the departure of the Chevrolet brand in the European market last year, leaving Cadillac, Vauxhall and Opel the only GM brands operating in the market.

Once finalised, General Motors will solely focus on their GMC, Cadillac, Buick and Chevrolet brands, with Cadillac becoming the only GM brand operating in the European market and their Australian brand Holden set to cease vehicle and engine production by the end of this year.

PSA chairman of the managing board Carlos Tavares said: “We are proud to join forces with Opel/Vauxhall and are deeply committed to continuing to develop this great company and accelerating its turnaround. We respect all that Opel/Vauxhall’s talented people have achieved as well as the company’s fine brands and strong heritage. We are confident that the Opel/Vauxhall turnaround will significantly accelerate with our support, while respecting the commitments made by GM to the Opel/Vauxhall employees.”

However, with great acquisition comes great fear as there could be some potential job losses once the acquisition is finalised along with fears that Vauxhall could be leaving the UK following after Brexit.