Opel

The Fiat-Chrysler Group and Peugeot Group have agreed to amend terms of the Stellantis merger agreement, in order to address the liquidity impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fiat-Chrysler special shareholder dividend has now been set at €2.9 billion (approximately AU$4.7B), down from €5.5B (AU$8.9B) in the initial arrangement.

If General Motors had continued its deal with Groupe PSA, the Holden Commodore name might’ve ended up on a crossover. Auto Express reports a transition to a crossover body style is in the cards for the next-generation Opel/Vauxhall Insignia. With sales having fallen by half over the course of a decade, PSA is planning on making a radical change to Opel’s mid-sizer.

The next step in the proposed US$50 billion ($73.5 billion) merger of Fiat Chrysler (FCA) and the PSA Group could be complete by the end of 2019. According to internal emails seen by Reuters and Automotive News, the PSA Group and FCA have formed multiple working groups to come up with a legally-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the merger.

A large Buick crossover has been spied undergoing hot weather testing in southern Europe. Up front the car sports a prominent set of LED driving lights in the shape of a tipped over L. These lights sit above a wide chrome bar joined to an oversized grille. The main headlight unit sits lower in the front fascia, and will likely be disguised to some degree. The crossover has smooth flanks, while the rear features a wide chrome bar joining up the two sets of tail-lights.

Opel has announced the next-generation Astra small car will be built at its Rüsselsheim facility in Germany from 2021, also confirming an electrified variant. Currently, the Astra is assembled at Ellesmere Port in the UK, and Gliwice in Poland – the former supplying Australia’s now-axed Holden Astra Sportwagon, and the latter the source of the Holden Astra hatchback which remains on sale.