LONDON/FRANKFURT/PARIS (Reuters) - French carmaker PSA Group PEUP.PA expects its planned acquisition of General Motors' GM.N Opel division to lead to combined sales of 5 million vehicles by 2022 and save as much as 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) annually, sources said, adding that a deal could be finalised in early March.

A Peugeot car drives past the logos of French car maker Peugeot and German car maker Opel at a dealership in Villepinte, near Paris, France, February 20, 2017. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

PSA also plans to make swift progress on technical convergence with GM’s European arm, bringing new Opel models such as the popular Corsa mini onto the Paris-based manufacturer’s own vehicle architectures to reduce duplication, two people with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.

Paris-based PSA and GM confirmed last week that they were in negotiations over a PSA-Opel tie-up to create Europe's second-largest carmaker by sales after Volkswagen VOWG_p.DE.

The disclosure sparked concern for the future of GM’s Opel and Vauxhall plants in Germany and Britain, home to most of the group’s 38,000-strong European workforce.

The targeted savings between 1.5 billion euros and 2 billion euros will come mainly from purchasing and research and development, the sources said, as vehicle platforms and engines are pooled.

A PSA spokesman declined to comment on the deal talks or the French carmaker’s objectives.

The sales goal of 5 million vehicles, to be reached between 2020 and 2022, represents a 16 percent increase on last year’s combined 4.3 million deliveries by PSA and Opel. It may be viewed as ambitious, with the European auto market now approaching a peak.

The future of Opel’s sales financing arm and 7 billion euro pension deficit is still under discussion, two sources said.

Exane BNP Paribas analyst Dominic O’Brien earlier said that savings of 2 billion euros could be achieved with 1.2 billion euros from joint purchasing, 400 million euros from R&D and a 400 million euros from the eventual elimination of 6,000 jobs.

“The most obvious starting point for any restructuring, of course, lies with labour,” O’Brien said in a note to clients, adding that layoffs would be more likely “via attrition and voluntary rather than compulsory”.

PSA said its Chief Executive Carlos Tavares had a “constructive discussion” with British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday, repeating assurances given to German Chancellor Angela Merkel a day earlier that any existing GM commitments to unions would be honored.

GM’s current German job guarantees run to the end of next year and plant commitments until around 2019-20, unions say.

The new group would have 75 billion euros in revenue and a 16 percent combined European market share, which shrank last year as both groups lost ground to rivals including VW and Renault RENA.PA.