PSA revenue rose 42 percent to 18 billion euros ($22 billion) in the first quarter, lifted by its acquisition of Opel-Vauxhall last year.
PSA boss Carlos Tavares, who is no stranger to thrashing out difficult labor deals, is now taking on Germany's powerful IG Metall union, which has been the undoing of many a cost cutter.
PSA wants 3,700 job cuts at Opel in Germany by 2020 and a process of contract buyouts and early retirement has already resulted in a reduction of about 2,000 positions, Opel's labor chief said.
PSA's fight to cut production costs at Opel's German factories took on a national dimension with Chancellor Angela Merkel intervening to say she expected the French automaker to honor commitments it made when it bought Opel from GM last year.
PSA Group will focus its slimmed-down Opel/Vauxhall dealership network across Europe on sales performance and customer satisfaction.
Opel and Vauxhall are cutting dealerships as new owner Peugeot continues to reduce costs at the automaker it acquired last year in the face of sliding sales, notably in Britain, a major market.
"No regrets" -- That's PSA Group CEO Carlos Tavares' assessment one year after striking a $2.7 billion deal for Opel and Vauxhall, General Motors' stubbornly unprofitable European brands.
Opel said a full-electric version of its Corsa will launch in 2020, a year after the conventionally powered new generation of the subcompact hatchback goes on sale.
Opel denied a report that its loss widened to more than 1 billion euros ($1.24 billion) last year.
France's PSA Group has found a bonus benefit in engineers from its newly acquired Opel unit. The former GM employees are helping make PSA products compliant with United States regulations,
PSA plans to bring electrified options to its full car and light-truck lineup by 2025, joining other automakers in pledging to widely deploy partial or fully electric powertrains to lower emissions, CEO Carlos Tavares said Wednesday.
PSA CEO Carlos Tavares is eager to get started with turning around the automaker's newly acquired Opel/Vauxhall business.