The fate of Peugeot-Citroën’s logistics arm Gefco is now in the hands of former Corus CEO Phillipe Varin (pictured) following the company’s unprecedented decision to oust CEO Christian Strieff on Monday.
While no firm plans will be put in place until Varin’s official start date on the June 1, analysts have been speculating on the company’s plans to shed its unit assets including the Gefco logistics arm and parts subsidiary Faurecia. Disposal of those units would meet with investor approval, Michael Tyndall of auto analyst Nomura Securities told Bloomberg.
But while Gefco would not comment on the future of its relationship to the carmaker, PSA’s UK spokesman Stuart Anderson told Automotive Logistics that the company was carrying on its relationship as normal and had no plans to sell off Gefco at the moment. He also pointed to the benefits of maintaining the status quo with the company given the significant cost savings Gefco had brought PSA in recent years.
This was backed up by Transport Intelligence analyst Thomas Cullen, who pointed out that it was very unlikely the company would sell off Gefco.
“Gefco has subtly begun to re-orientate away from dependence on automotive, but it would be hard for it to end its relationship with PSA,” he said. “For example, it has huge volumes of automotive moved by PSA which underpin its less-than-truckload road freight business.
“They might float a portion of it on the Stock Exchange but that would take time,” he added.
Shares in PSA dropped 9% to €13.94 ($18.45) in trading on Monday following the announcement.
