PSA has given Opel until 2020 to return to profit as part of a recovery plan aimed at shifting the German brand's model lineup onto PSA's architecture, with the French parent pursuing 1.7 billion euros (£1.5 billion) in savings from its acquisition of Opel.

"If it doesn't succeed it will be very serious for the company and of course for the employees," Tavares said on Thursday at a conference in Berlin.

(Reporting by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Tom Sims)