Striving for the podium

THE Peugeot group (PSA) won the Marrakech World Touring Car Championship on April 13th, with Citroën C-Elysées coming first, second and third. That cheered its new boss. Carlos Tavares, a racing fanatic, joined Peugeot’s archrival, Renault, as a test driver in 1981, rising to become that company’s number two before taking the wheel at PSA on March 31st. He now wants to see his new company enjoying the same success financially as it has had on the racetrack.

The second-largest European carmaker, in volume terms, is struggling to escape from losses topping €7 billion ($9.7 billion) in the past two years. A €3 billion capital increase agreed on in principle in March, which hands both Dongfeng, a Chinese carmaker, and the French state 14% stakes in exchange for €800m apiece, will help PSA secure its future. On April 14th Mr Tavares set out how he proposed doing it.