Peugeot to make a move on Mitsubishi?

Peugeot has launched a US $3.5 billion bid for a stake in Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, according to a report filed last week by Japanese publication, the Nikkei English News.

Part of the PSA Peugeot Citroen conglomerate, the French company is possibly hoping to emulate the success of another recent Franco-Japanese coupling, Nissan and Renault.

Mitsubishi already collaborates with Peugeot and Citroen, having played a leading role in the development of the Peugeot 4007 -- basically a Mitsubishi Outlander powered by a Peugeot diesel -- and the Citroen C-ZERO, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV rebadged with the twin-Chevron Citroen badging.

Lenore Fletcher, Head of Corporate Communications for Mitsubishi Australia (MMAL), was not in a position to reveal any further word on talks between the two companies.

"Basically, at this point, there is a lot of conjecture in the media and it is continuing quite strongly," she told the Carsales Network last week. "We naturally would not comment on that whatsoever. That's definitely an MMC issue and I don't have any information about it at all."

Any further progress on a tie-in between the two companies -- including Peugeot's acquisition of a 53 per cent majority share in Mitsubishi -- will be contingent on a Peugeot board meeting in January, according to an unnamed source cited by Business Week.

Based on what's taking place between Chrysler and Fiat, Peugeot's future involvement with Mitsubishi might bear little influence on local operations of the two companies.

Certainly MMAL appears in no hurry to import the Dutch-built 4007 to provide a diesel variant in the Outlander range.

Paul Unerkov, MMAL's Vice President of Brand Management told the Carsales Network last week at the launch of the new medium-segment SUV, the Challenger, that Peugeot's version of the Outlander is not for the budget-conscious buyer.

"It's more expensive than the luxury [XLS] Challenger," Unerkov pointed out.

"In some markets, there'll be an Outlander with a Peugeot diesel in it -- but in this market, getting it at the right price point and getting it to fit into our model line-up... We just didn't think it was right at this stage.

"That's not to say that there's not a market for an Outlander diesel, because there probably is, but getting at the right price point is important.

"We don't have the ability to put a diesel engine in Outlander... should that change, which I'm sure it will, because diesel engineering and development is growing for every manufacturer, not just for us, there's an opportunity to bring it in at the right price point."

Peugeot and Mitsubishi have been previously associated through the six degrees of Chrysler, the American brand having held a substantial interest in Mitsubishi since the 1970s and having sold its European Rootes Group brands to Peugeot at the end of the 1970s.

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