PARIS (Bloomberg) — PSA/Peugeot-Citroen, the carmaker predicted by Fiat S.p.A. CEO Sergio Marchionne to be the next European candidate for an auto merger, has won more time to prove that it can go it alone.

Marchionne announced Wednesday plans to separate carmaking from its industrial units such as trucks and construction equipment to facilitate future alliances, saying he has a “long list” of further candidates for partnerships. PSA CEO Philippe Varin says he plans to build on its looser industrial cooperation with the Japanese carmaker Mitsubishi Motor Corp. and similar pacts with Fiat, BMW AG and Ford Motor Co. Continue reading PSA resists merger, answers Marchionne with sales growth

FRANKFURT (Reuters) — New car registrations in the European Union rose 10.8 percent in March, that month’s biggest growth in years, helped by one extra working day as well as resurgent demand in the four biggest markets outside of Germany.

According to statistics from industry group ACEA, new registrations soared to 1.64 million vehicles, eclipsing the absolute figure from March 2008.

Despite the strong figures, analysts and executives warn that the clock is ticking on volume carmakers like Volkswagen AG.

While premium brands like BMW AG expect to see a gradual improvement in underlying demand over the coming months, the floor is expected to drop out beneath the feet of mass car brands once a host of government scrapping incentives gradually expire as the year draws on.

The German auto market plummeted 27 percent in March after its generous “cash for clunkers” scheme ended last September. Continue reading European new car market enjoys calm before storm

PRAGUE (Reuters) — Car sales at Volkswagen AG’s Skoda unit jumped 25 percent in the first quarter with the introduction of new models and strong growth in China, the Czech carmaker said on Friday.

The group sold 178,901 vehicles between January and March. Chinese sales more than doubled and accounted for around a quarter of all sales.

Skoda said March was its best-selling month on record.

“We remain optimistic in this year’s outlook, but cautious,” Skoda board member Reinhard Fleger said.

Skoda sold a record 684,226 cars last year, helped by car-scrapping schemes in its western European markets and expansion in China. Continue reading Strong China growth boosts Skoda sales by 25% in Q1