PSA admits it's considering buying Jaguar Land Rover

PSA Group boss Carlos Tavares has announced his car-maker is considering an acquisition of the struggling Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) brand – but will only do so on the condition such a purchase would not distract the French car giant.

Confirming that PSA – which added Opel/Vauxhall in 2017 to Citroen, DS and Peugeot in its stable – was also in the market for a merger with JLR, Tavares announced in an interview with

According to Tavares, no discussions have taken place with JLR's parent Tata Motors but added that "if there are opportunities, of course, we will consider it".

If snapped up by PSA, Jaguar and Land Rover will sit above the DS brand – the premium French brand that split from Citroen back in 2015.

A successful deal to purchase JLR would also depend, Tavares says, "on what kind of value creation we could generate".

It's thought Tavares reference to 'value' relates to great cost efficiencies that would come from sharing platform, powertrains and potentially dealers, in the case of Peugeot.

PSA Group has already declared it is keen to relaunch in the North American market and access to Jaguar Land Rover's network of US and Canadian dealers could prove the key to the brand's return without a huge investment in the infrastructure needed to launch there.

PSA's interest in JLR has been triggered by JLR's recent financial woes that has seen it hit by falling demand for diesels in Europe and a general decline in the Chinese market.

Already credited for the turnaround in the former GM Europe brands that saw Opel and Vauxhall post their first profit in 20 years, Tavares is confident he can repeat the trick for JLR.

“With Opel, we have demonstrated that we can turn around a company that was in the red for 20 years, in 12 months. So this is something we know how to do.”

In response to the Tavares declaration of interest in a JLR purchase or merger, Tata Motors has released a statement that said: “There is no truth to the rumours that Tata Motors is looking to divest its stake in JLR.”

Paving the way for future PSA mergers and acquisitions is the public backing of the Peugeot family, who own the largest stake in the French car-making giant.

As well as being interested in the British car-maker, PSA has also reportedly recently approached Italian-American automotive group, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, although its initial advances are said to have been rebuffed by senior execs.