WASHINGTON: US-Italian auto giant Fiat Chrysler and France´s Peugeot are in merger talks that would yield an entity valued at about $50 billion, a person with knowledge of the matter told AFP on Tuesday.
Carlos Tavares, the chief executive of Peugeot´s parent, PSA Group, would lead the new company as CEO while John Elkann, chairman of Fiat Chrysler Automobile (FCA), would be chairman.
Peugeot posted a new record for revenue of $82 billion (74 billion euros) in 2018 while FCA reported 110 billion euros in revenue.
The French group has a market capitalization of 22.54 billion euros on the Paris Stock Exchange, while FCA is valued at just over $28 billion on Wall Street and 20.74 billion euros in Milan.
A merger of the two groups would bring under one roof Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroen, Dodge, DS, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot and Vauxhall.
A spokesman for PSA said he could not react to market rumors, while Turin-based Fiat also declined to comment.
The discussions come just months after a proposed merger between Fiat Chrysler and French automaker Renault fell through.
PSA has never hidden its interest in automotive sector consolidation.