PSA wants to share the cost of developing and manufacturing replacements for its Peugeot Expert and Citroen Jumpy vans built at a plant shared with Fiat, CEO Philippe Varin said.
"We are looking for solutions for our future utility vehicles," Varin said. "In our industry it is hard to develop them alone, so we need to find the right partner."
Fiat is pulling out of the Sevelnord venture in northern France which also builds the Fiat Scudo van when the current partnership agreement expires in 2017. Varin declined to comment on possible candidates to replace the Italian carmaker.
Varin was speaking on Friday during an event marking the production launch of Peugeot's new 208 subcompact car at PSA's Poissy plant near Paris, attended by French Industry Minister Eric Besson.
Besson said that he had asked PSA to hold meetings with unions and government representatives to address concerns over the future of Sevelnord and PSA's Aulnay plant near Paris, which builds the C3.
The automaker is considering cost-cutting measures after losing European market share last year and issuing a series of profit warnings amid slumping sales of the outgoing 207 and Citroen's equivalent C3.
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