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Mike Manley and Louis Camilleri appointments confirmed after shareholder votes

AMSTERDAM – Fiat Chrysler shareholders held a meeting yesterday to officially vote on the appointments of Mike Manley as CEO of FCA and Louis Camilleri as the CEO of Ferrari. Manley and Camilleri were announced as the replacements for Sergio Marchionne following the former chief's sudden death. At the same time, FCA announced that it would place John Elkann in the role of Chairman. A minute-long moment of silence was held at the start of the meeting in honor of Marchionne. According to reports, 99 percent of shareholder votes were in favor of Manley's appointment at FCA, and 98 percent were in favor of Camilleri taking the CEO role at Ferrari. Manley said at the shareholder's meeting that he will announce his organizational plans for the automaker by the end of September. "When we learned Sergio Marchionne could not return to work the board decided to appoint Mike Manley, who was the only candidate," Chairman John Elkann said. The chairman added the decision was based on succession plans the board was working on with Marchionne for his planned departure in 2019. Of Camilleri's direction at Ferrari, Elkann said, "Sergio Marchionne strengthened the foundations of Ferrari, now we can build on that for the future, which will be a bright future."Reuters contributed to this report.Related Video: Image Credit: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Chrysler Fiat Sergio Marchionne FCA Mike Manley

Chrysler's Jefferson North plant builds 5-millionth SUV [w/video]

Chrysler's Jefferson North Assembly Plant opened in 1992 for production of the first Jeep Grand Cherokee, but in the subsequent years, the Detroit plant has gone on to produce some of the company's biggest SUVs including the Jeep Commander and Dodge Durango. Earlier this week, the plant produced its five-millionth SUV, which, fittingly, was a Grand Cherokee.
Celebrating the plant's five-millionth unit, the silver 2014 Grand Cherokee was promptly donated to the USO. In addition to this milestone SUV, Chrysler also had a near-perfect 1993-95 ZJ Grand Cherokee on hand for the photo op. Scroll down for the Chrysler press release as well as a video showing some of the speeches from the celebration.

Fiat Chrysler and Renault pursue $35-billion merger to combat car industry upheaval

MILAN/PARIS — Fiat Chrysler pitched a finely balanced merger of equals to Renault on Monday to tackle the costs of far-reaching technological and regulatory changes by creating the world's third-biggest automaker. If it goes ahead, the $35 billion-plus tie-up would alter the landscape for rivals including General Motors and Peugeot maker PSA Group, which recently held inconclusive talks with Fiat Chrysler (FCA), and could spur more deals. Renault said it was studying the proposal from Italian-American FCA with interest, and considered it friendly. Shares in both companies jumped more than 10 percent as investors welcomed the prospect of an enlarged business capable of producing more than 8.7 million vehicles a year and aiming for 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion) in annual savings. It would rank third in the global auto industry behind Japan's Toyota and Germany's Volkswagen. But analysts also warned of big complications, including Renault's existing alliance with Nissan, the French state's role as Renault's largest shareholder and potential opposition from politicians and workers to any cutbacks. "The market will be careful with these synergy numbers as much has been promised before and there isn't a single merger of equals that has ever succeeded in autos," Evercore ISI analyst Arndt Ellinghorst said. With these sensitivities in mind, FCA proposed an all-share merger under a listed Dutch holding company. After a 2.5 billion euro dividend for existing FCA shareholders - giving a big upfront boost to the Agnelli family that controls 29% of FCA - investors in each firm would hold half of the new entity. The merged group would be chaired by Agnelli family scion John Elkann, sources familiar with the talks told Reuters, while Renault chairman Jean-Dominique Senard would likely become CEO. Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said the proposed merger could be good news for Italy if it helped FCA to grow, but it was crucial to preserve jobs. He did not comment on the French government's 15% stake in Renault, but an influential lawmaker from the ruling League party said Rome may seek a stake in the combined group to balance France's holding. A deal could also have profound repercussions for Renault's 20-year-old alliance with Nissan, already weakened by the crisis surrounding the arrest and ouster of former chairman Carlos Ghosn late last year. The Japanese carmaker has yet to comment on FCA's proposal.