Opel/Vauxhall will take on global responsibility for developing the next-generation of high-efficiency petrol engines for all Groupe PSA (www.groupe-psa.com) brands — Vauxhall, Opel, Peugeot, Citroën and DS Automobiles.

The new four-cylinder engines will be optimised to work in combination with electric motors and to be used in the drive-train of hybrid systems. They will come to the market in 2022 and will be produced in Rüsselsheim, Germany.

The new generation of engines will be highly efficient, with low fuel consumption and low CO2 emissions, and they will be designed for use in all Groupe PSA brands in China, Europe and North America, meeting the future emission standards of those markets.

They will feature ‘state of the art’ technologies such as direct injection, turbo-charging and variable valve control.

Christian Müller, Opel/Vauxhall’s managing director (engineering), said: “Rüsselsheim had global responsibility for engine development when we were still part of GM.

“With the development of the new four-cylinder petrol engines, we can exploit one of our key competencies.”

The Rüsselsheim engineering centre has decades of experience in building efficient petrol engines.

The upcoming four-cylinder units will form the second petrol-engine family of Groupe PSA from 2022, alongside the well-known three-cylinder PureTech turbo engine that recently won the ‘Engine of the Year’ award for the fourth time in a row.