The operator of the Windsor Assembly Plant is a step closer to finalizing a merger with a European auto conglomerate.
Crain's Automotive News reported Monday that shareholders from both Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and Groupe PSA have approved the merger, which has taken over a year and a half to materialize.
Once the merger officially closes, the new combined automaker will be renamed Stellantis.
"Following [Monday's] approval by shareholders and receipt of the final regulatory clearances over the course of the last month, including notably from the European Commission and the European Central Bank, FCA and Groupe PSA expect to complete the combination on January 16, 2021," read a brief statement on the FCA corporate website.
On Monday, Automotive News reported that once news of the shareholders' approval got out, shares of Peugeot and FCA advanced as much as 4.2 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively, in European trading.
Groupe PSA owns Peugeot, a French conglomerate that also owns automaker Citroen, German manufacturer Opel and British make Vauxhall. The combination of the two automotive conglomerates will result in the world’s fourth-largest automaker, after Japan's Toyota, Germany's Volkswagen Group, and South Korea's Hyundai-Kia.
Analysts are hoping that the merger will help the development of FCA's profitable truck and SUV markets, including the Windsor-built Chrysler Pacifica minivan. Groupe PSA's Citroen and Peugeot makes have rebounded in Europe and are poised to make a run at French rival Renault.
However, FCA is still recovering from the less-than-healthy response to Fiat's Alfa Romeo and Maserati luxury vehicles, and the PSA acquisition of Opel only increased that brand's dependence on the crowded European auto market.
Once the merger takes hold January 16, trading of the Stellantis shares will begin on the Paris and Milan stock exchanges Monday, January 18, with trading to begin in New York on the following Tuesday.
