The automotive groups PSA and Fiat Chrysler vote for their merger on Monday.

It is therefore a huge liner which is launched under the name of Stellantis and which will be managed by Carlos Tavares, the current boss of PSA.

Nicolas Barré takes stock of a current economic issue.

"Unity is strength" is the conviction of the automotive groups PSA and Fiat Chrysler since it is this Monday that they vote their merger.

On paper, this gives an automotive giant, the world number 4 with 400,000 employees, eight million vehicles produced each year and no less than 14 brands: Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel, Vauxhall on the PSA side and of course Fiat , Chrysler but also Alpha Romeo, Lancia, Maserati, Jeep, Dodge ... It is therefore an enormous liner which launches into the water under the name of Stellantis, "to shine with stars" in Latin, the stars being all these marks.

And this set will be piloted by Carlos Tavares, the current boss of PSA.

Quite a challenge.

Precisely because unity does not always create strength.

There are a few prerequisites.

In particular, everyone must agree to work together.

In the PSA group, it took years to get there between the Peugeot and the Citroëns.

So imagine with 14 brands ... This is a 50-50 merger between the two groups, this is what the shareholders are voting on just now, but we will have to find the right internal balances.

And then you know, the automotive industry is going through a historic double crisis: the markets collapsed because of the Covid and especially the industry is undergoing technological change.

A group like Tesla, which only sold half a million cars last year, is worth $ 670 billion on the stock market, ten times more than this new set.

It shows where investors see the future.

In the automobile, there is the old industry and the new one.

We will therefore have to convince that this marriage of two hundred-year-old groups is relevant.

And to convince, that will require difficult decisions.

There may be too many brands, some like Alpha Romeo have been asleep for a long time.

There are undoubtedly too many factories, especially on the Fiat side: they run at 60% of their capacity.

There is no question of closures for the moment but the Fiat range is aging, its market share is eroding, this situation is not sustainable.

And then we will have to invest so as not to be left behind by the new players in the automotive industry or by groups with more resources such as Volkswagen or Toyota.

This is where unity must be strength.

Carlos Tavares managed to turn around PSA with a masterful hand.

It is a key asset to succeed in this other challenge which awaits it now.