France's PSA Group will return to North America with the same brand that it pulled out of the region 28 years ago: Peugeot.
CEO Carlos Tavares pointed to Peugeot’s "strong growth" and profitability in revealing the selection Tuesday in Paris. Since announcing its planned return in 2016, PSA has maintained that any of its brands – including Citroen, DS and, more recently, Opel – might lead the comeback to the U.S. and Canada.
The choice marks a big step on PSA's methodical path toward selling vehicles in a market that it abandoned in 1991. Last fall, Tavares indicated that decisions on a distribution model and where its U.S.-bound vehicles will be built were also likely by mid-year.
The automaker maintains that it’s in no hurry. Its only stated time frame is to have vehicles for sale in the U.S. by 2026.
In the meantime, PSA has been focusing on car-sharing and other mobility initiatives. Those efforts have been designed to help PSA understand U.S. consumers while expanding the 130-year-old automaker’s expertise in forms of transportation beyond the privately owned car.
Peugeot exited the U.S. market in 1991, driven out by a recession, slumping sales and the rising costs of U.S. regulations. The company had sold just 4,292 cars in 1990, nearly 80 percent below 1984 levels.
Last year, PSA said it had narrowed to 15 states and four Canadian provinces its top picks as possible points of entry for sales. Those states have customers who are willing to buy imports and represent 62 percent of vehicle sales nationwide, the company said.
The automaker has also been in the process of homologating vehicles for the U.S. market, a multi-year process.
The first step of its mobility initiative was the launch of the Free2Move app in Seattle in fall 2017. The app lets customers order and pay for a variety of transportation services, such as ride-hailing or public transit.
Free2Move also is the brand PSA used to begin a car-sharing service in Washington, D.C., late last year.
