FINANCIAL TIMES: …The cut on Thursday came as car sales data in France underlined the near-term challenges faced by the two carmakers. Registrations of light vehicles in PSA’s home country of France dropped 18 per cent year on year in February, the industry association CCFA reported on Thursday.
Shares in Peugeot dropped 3.86 per cent on Thursday as Moody’s downgraded the French carmaker’s debt to Ba1 from Baa3, with a negative outlook. The agency said PSA faced “tremendous operational stress”, and warned that the alliance with GM would incur upfront expenses that could negatively affect its results in the short term.
“Moody’s notes that past mergers and alliances in the automotive industry have often not resulted in the anticipated competitive advantage and improved performance,” the agency said… (more)
