GM Says It’s Progressing on Details of Peugeot Alliance

Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Co. is making headway on implementing its alliance with PSA Peugeot (UG) Citroen, Chief Executive Officer Dan Akerson said in an interview.

“There is progress,” Akerson said yesterday in Sao Paulo, ahead of this week’s auto show.

GM said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission it wants to sign agreements with Peugeot on product- development, vehicle-supply and powertrain-supply plans by the end of October.

“There is a milestone on the 31st of October,” he said. “It’s fair to say we’ll have something to comment publicly on by that.” The deadline allows for postponement, Akerson said in the interview.

Efforts to iron out details of the GM-Peugeot alliance slowed amid a worsening European auto market and regulatory review, people familiar with the matter have said.

The automakers have already missed a June 30 deadline on a parts-buying plan. GM announced a logistics agreement with PSA on July 2, more than two months after the April (APR) 30 deadline set out in the automakers’ Feb. 29 master agreement filed with the SEC.

A GM-PSA purchasing announcement may come before the end of this month or in early November, Akerson told reporters at a media event.

Peugeot Chief Executive Officer Philippe Varin said last month at the Paris auto show that while a joint purchasing agreement requires regulatory approval, it should be achieved in November.

GM gained 0.1 percent to $24.62 at the close in New York.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tim Higgins in Sao Paulo at thiggins21@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jamie Butters at jbutters@bloomberg.net