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For some, getting a Fiat 500e last week was almost free

Auto-racing clubs know a thing or two about moving fast. And a couple of them out in California appeared to do just that when a bunch of incentives for the Fiat 500e electric vehicle added up to a pretty sweet deal. Actually, a borderline free one. Green Car Reports was kind enough to do the math on the calculation of an $83-a-month, three-year lease deal on that included a $2,100 perk and required an $11,000 downpayment on the $32,000 car. California and federal government incentives for EVs cut that downpayment down to $1,000 out of pocket once the incentives ($7,500 from the feds, $2,500 from the state) were factored in by the leasing company. Then, Fiat-Chrysler was throwing in another $1,000 for folks who were leasing a car from another car company, hence the freebie. That means some lucky people, at least temporarily, were able to work basically a zero-downpayment agreement for a three-year lease on a car whose monthly payment is the equivalent of about two full tanks of gas. Once word of those perks got around to some California racing clubs, about 100 500e vehicles to be moved off of California lots during the past week or so. Plugged in, indeed. Related Videos: Featured Gallery 2013 Fiat 500e: Review View 40 Photos News Source: Green Car Reports Green Chrysler Fiat incentives fiat 500e

2021 Chrysler Pacifica refresh spotted with its new bits covered

The Chrysler Pacifica is the critical darling of the minivan segment, but FCA seems keen to make it even better with a 2021 refresh we're expecting to see later this year. From these photos, we can tell that FCA's beloved people hauler will get some front- and rear-end updates. The spy who captured these photos also passed along the fact that the engineers inside moved quickly to cover up its interior, hinting that there will be news on that front as well. There might be more to this that we can't see from the outside. Rumors have been swirling for the better part of a year that Chrysler has plans to add all-wheel drive to the Pacifica's option sheet.  FCA has remained mum about this potential development, but it would be a logical step to keep the minivan relevant as the industry continues to feel the effects of crossover creep.  If it does come to fruition, this wouldn't be the first time FCA has offered all-wheel drive on a minivan, but historically the feature has come at the expense of another wildly popular option: the company's Stow 'n Go seating system, as the cubbies have always occupied the same space that would be needed to install a prop shaft to carry power to the rear axle. Maybe FCA's engineers have figured out how to combine the two, or will simply offer both as options that can't be combined as they have in the past. Given what appears to be the production-ready state of this particular test car, we may not have to wait long to find out. 

Marchionne completed Fiat-Chrysler deal from a Florida beach

Sergio Marchionne is the CEO of Fiat, which as you may have heard, has finally worked up a deal to finish acquiring the Chrysler Group after months of bargaining with the United Auto Workers and its VEBA healthcare trust, which owned just over 40 percent of the American brand. Where was Marchionne when the deal was finally hammered out? Well, not tucked away in a frigid Detroit board room until the wee hours of the morning.
Nope, one of the largest deals in automotive history was reportedly hammered out on the beach - at the home of a banker, in the Florida resort town of Vero Beach. Marchionne traveled to the home of Alain Lebec, a senior managing director at Brock Capital LLC, one of the advisory companies for the VEBA fund, where both sides met to make final arrangements in the $4.35-billion exchange. The location of the final deal, though, is nearly as remarkable as the pace with which it came about.
According to anonymous sources pinned down by Automotive News Europe, before the meeting, the two sides were meeting in Detroit as recently as December 19, which is where Fiat made one of its final revised offers. Naturally, the VEBA made a counter offer, which led Marchionne to initiate the Vero Beach meeting.