1965 Citroen C/v on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Citro"en reveals limited-edition DS3 Cabrio Racing

We know it may be hard to believe for those of us now covered in snow, but the summer wasn't that long ago, and won't be that long away, either. Just this past summer, Citroën rolled in to the Goodwood Festival of Speed with the DS3 Cabrio Racing Concept, a show car that - not unlike the Fiat 500C Abarth - combined the best attributes of the DS3 Cabrio and the firecracker DS3 Racing hot hatch. It wasn't long after that the concept was mooted for production, and now that day has come.
Announced together with Citroën's motorsport program for next season (when it will contest both the World Rally Championship and World Touring Car Championship), the most we've seen until now of the production DS3 Cabrio Racing has been a solitary image released with little in the way of details. But with a little prodding, the folks at Citroën were kind enough to spill the full beans on the new cloth-top hot hatch.
What we're looking at is a fairly faithful translation of the concept to production, with only a few discernable trim differences (like black mirror caps instead of chrome and body-colored front lip spoiler instead of red) to be gleaned. Power comes from the same 1.6-liter turbo four as the DS3 Racing hatchback (now quoted at an incrementally higher 207 horsepower that likely comes down to a rounding error), driving the front set of 18-inch wheels through a six-speed manual. Only instead of the glossy grey paintjob with flashy graphics and bright orange roof, this version has a matte grey finish with subtle anodized red accents and a fabric roof panel that folds back.

Fiat/PSA's dominance in small vans hangs up EU's merger approval

BRUSSELS — EU antitrust regulators are concerned about Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot / PSA's combined high market share in small vans and may require concessions to clear their $50 billion merger, people familiar with the matter said. The companies, which are seeking to create the world's fourth biggest carmaker, were told of the European Commission's concerns last week. If Fiat and PSA fail to dispel the European Commission's doubts in the next two days and subsequently decline to offer concessions by Wednesday, the deadline for doing so, the deal would face a four-month-long investigation. The EU competition enforcer, which has set a June 17 deadline for its preliminary review, declined to comment. Fiat was not immediately available for comment while PSA had no immediate comment. Hiving off overlapping businesses, usually a regulatory demand to ensure more competition, could prove tricky for the carmakers because of the technicalities. Fiat and PSA are looking to merge to help offset slowing demand and shoulder the cost of making cleaner vehicles to meet tougher emissions regulations. The deal puts under one roof the Italian carmaker's brands such as Fiat, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Maserati and the French company's Peugeot, Opel and DS. Related Video: Government/Legal Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep Maserati RAM Citroen Opel Peugeot

GM, Peugeot cease tie-up talks over French bailout issue

The partnership General Motors (via Opel) and PSA Peugeot/Citroën began in February has produced more declarations and revisions than easily identifiable positive movement. A deeper collaboration between Opel and Peugeot has been mentioned a few times, perhaps even a sale of one to the other, and a report in October laid out joint plans like a small MPV for Opel/Vauxhall, a small car for both Opel and Citroën and two new platforms for small and midsize cars.
What observers can't glean from the proclamations is how all this can happen with Peugeot in constant, and worsening, financial trouble. The French company just accepted a bailout from the French government, the cash position at its lending arm so bad that the interest rates it had to charge were pricing it out of the car-loan market, and a new report in Reuters says that Peugeot is losing $200 million per month.
That cash-burn rate is better than a few months ago, but the Reuters report explains that the French government loan is "sabotaging" any chance of a closer tie-up between the two companies, said to include the possibility of "a full combination of Peugeot with GM's European unit Opel." That particular option, with a $5-billion buy-in from GM, could have allowed GM to get Opel off its books by making it part of a separate entity. The French government's terms for the loan, however, mean that Peugeot can't shed workers and factories as it would need to in order to make the new entity, and any deeper ties with Opel, viable.