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FCA-Renault revival may hinge on willingness to cut Nissan stake

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Renault are looking for ways to resuscitate their collapsed merger plan and secure the approval of the French carmaker's alliance partner Nissan, according to several sources close to the companies. Nissan is poised to urge Renault to significantly reduce its 43.4% stake in the Japanese company in return for supporting a FCA-Renault tie-up, two people with knowledge of its thinking also told Reuters. It is still far from clear whether any concerted effort to revive the complex and politically fraught deal can succeed. FCA Chairman John Elkann abruptly withdrew his $35 billion merger offer in the early hours of June 6 after the French government, Renault's biggest shareholder, blocked a vote by its board and demanded more time to win Nissan's backing. Nissan representatives had said they would abstain. The failure, which FCA and Renault blamed squarely on the French government, deprived both companies of an opportunity to create the world's third-biggest carmaker with 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion) in promised annual synergies. It also shone a harsh light on Renault's relations with Nissan, which have gone from frayed to fried since the November arrest of former alliance Chairman Carlos Ghosn, now awaiting trial in Japan on financial misconduct charges he denies. REVIVAL TALKS Italian-American FCA — whose brand stable encompasses Fiat runabouts, Jeep SUVs, RAM pickups, Alfa Romeo luxury cars and Maserati sports cars — has so far turned a deaf ear to suggestions by French officials that its merger proposal could be revisited. But since the breakdown, Elkann and his French counterpart Jean-Dominique Senard have had talks about reviving the plan that left the Renault chairman and his Chief Executive Thierry Bollore upbeat about that prospect, three alliance sources said. Renault and a spokesman for FCA declined to comment. One of Elkann's senior advisors on the Renault merger bid, Toby Myerson, was expected at Nissan headquarters in Yokohama on Monday for exploratory discussions with top management, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa is likely to attend. Myerson did not respond to a message from Reuters seeking comment. The meeting comes amid mounting strains that may preclude compromise, after Senard warned Saikawa that Renault was prepared to block key Nissan governance reforms in a dispute over board committees.

Dodge Grand Caravan reportedly will cease production in 2020

The Dodge Grand Caravan looks like it may finally be reaching its demise next year. A report from Automotive News Canada says the old Dodge minivan will cease production in May 2020. The report cites AutoForecast Solutions as the source of its news. FCA confirmed to us that the van will be going away eventually, but the company is not ready to put an official end date on it yet. For the time being, it looks like the Grand Caravan’s long run will eventually grind to a halt in Windsor, Ontario, the vanÂ’s only production site. With the introduction of the Chrysler Voyager as the budget minivan option from Chrysler, FCA may think it no longer has any use for the outdated Dodge. The Grand Caravan has a starting price of $28,535, whereas the new Voyager is priced from $28,480. ThatÂ’s an almost identical starting point, but we still donÂ’t know what kind of incentives FCA will offer for the Voyager. There are typically big cuts for the Grand Caravan, which have pushed recent average transaction prices down to $24,972. We imagine itÂ’ll be much more difficult for FCA to offer discounts of that magnitude to Voyager shoppers. Still, AutoForecast Solutions told Automotive News it believes FCA will transition folks away from the Grand Caravan. “For the 2020 model year, theyÂ’ll likely run to fleet and then get the consumers to buy the new Voyager,” says Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions. Eliminating the Grand Caravan would be a strong bet on ChryslerÂ’s strategy of splitting the Pacifica into two different model lines. Nearly every month, FCA sells more Grand Caravans than Pacificas. The Pacifica is the far superior minivan to own, but you canÂ’t argue with a cheap price. Once the Grand Caravan is gone, budget minivan buyers will have no choice but to buy a Voyager if they want the cheapest new option out there. Entries from the few other manufacturers that produce minivans are all going to be more expensive than the Voyager. The 2020 Pacifica and Voyager team are slated to reach dealers later this year, but it wonÂ’t be until next year that weÂ’re able to fully take stock of how this plays out for FCA.

Chrysler 300 performance model teased for Detroit Auto Show reveal

The Chrysler 300 will not go out quietly, both literally and figuratively. A new teaser from Chrysler blasted across the company website’s homepage tells the story of whatÂ’s going on here. ItÂ’s a photo of what we have to assume is the wheel and brake caliper of what Chrysler plans on revealing September 13. The car this wheel and caliper are attached to? A Chrysler 300. Yes, it appears as though Chrysler is going to reveal a performance model of the 300 next week, and weÂ’re excited about it. Chrysler doesnÂ’t divulge much about the car, but the description attached to the photo tells us a few things. WeÂ’ll re-paste the text from the teaser below for easy reading. “Tune in September 13th at 6:00 p.m. ET to get a front-row seat for the reveal of one of the most powerful and luxurious special edition vehicles in Chrysler Brand history. WeÂ’ll also share details on how you can reserve a vehicle of your own from this limited production run. Limited Quantities available. Vehicle availability in Spring 2023. Visit your dealer for vehicle availability.” What could this be? For starters, thereÂ’s precedent for a Chrysler 300 SRT8 re-creation. Chrysler discontinued this muscle sedan after the 2014 model year, and in the end it had a 6.4-liter V8 under its hood that made 470 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque. Today, that 6.4-liter V8 can be found under the hood of the 300Â’s sibling car, the Dodge Charger R/T Scat Pack where it makes 485 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque. It seems reasonable that Chrysler could bring the big 6.4-liter back to the 300 as a sendoff — after all, the Charger and Challenger in their current forms are being discontinued after the 2023 model year. The caliper design looks like that found on the current Scat Pack cars, but itÂ’s only a glimpse of the wheel and brakes, so we canÂ’t be 100% sure about anything. As much as weÂ’d love to see Chrysler stick a Hellcat engine inside the 300 as its final hurrah, that theory is definitely the longshot at this point. Chrysler says this model will be “one of the most powerful” special edition vehicles in its history, but it didnÂ’t explicitly call it the most powerful car its ever made. If that was ChryslerÂ’s wording, weÂ’d have to assume it would be a Hellcat, but thatÂ’s not the case here. Regardless of what performance level 300 comes at us on Tuesday next week, weÂ’re hyped. Make sure to tune back in here to see what Chrysler has in store for us.