2012 Fiat 500 C Lounge Convertible 2-door 1.4l on 2040-cars

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Sergio Marchionne says hybrids will replace small diesel Fiats

FCA's Sergio Marchionne is convinced diesel is dead when it comes to small city cars. That means the upcoming new generation Fiat 500 will lose its 1.3-liter MultiJet diesel and gain a 48-volt hybrid powertrain. Nitrogen oxide emissions are something you want to get rid of in city use, where the 500 and its competitors shine. It seems only the brave will continue selling diesel cars in this class. In an interview with AutoExpress, Marchionne says he's certain about diesel's fate. "There are very few things that are certain in this market - apart from one, and that is that small displacement diesels are dead. I think everything else is fair play, so we'll experiment," says Marchionne. In the city car class, manufacturers will have to reach a purchase price for hybrid tech that's similarly as low as gasoline and diesel powered small cars. But creating full hybrids out of the 500 and the Panda would render them so expensive, it would be lethal for Fiat. The solution will most likely be a 48-volt "mild" hybrid system, which can create some of the mileage gains of a full hybrid system but at much less cost. "I think hybrids are inevitable," Marchionne says. "The question is not the technology, it's a question of the cost and whether the consumer will pay. We will have to play with a variety of solutions." Among that variety: Could replacing the diesel model in Europe with the 48-volt system lead to sales of that system in the US, as an alternative or even replacement for the all-electric Fiat 500? All we know is, Marchionne in the past has bemoaned the EV model as a loss leader. The next-generation Fiat 500 is expected to reach production in 2019.

Spitballs flying between Nissan and Fiat

At the 2012 LA Auto Show, Fiat brand chief and recently crowned marketing genius, Olivier François, attempted to distance the Fiat 500e from other electric vehicles, asking rhetorically, "Isn't ugliness the worst kind of pollution?" Nissan has apparently taken issue with these comments, feeling slighted for what it considers digs at the Leaf's styling. In a recent interview with Automotive News, Nissan's marketing chief Simon Sproule shot back, "Let's face it, Fiat has not shied away from controversial styling themselves," he continued, "many would describe many of their products as visual pollution." Ouch.
Sproule says that while the 500e is a "me-too" product, made only to appease US emissions regulations, the Leaf is a serious effort at producing an EV. The Nissan marketing boss points out that the Japanese automaker has invested billions in EV development and production facilities, while Fiat will lose $10,000 on every 500e sold.
However sales of the Leaf in the US are down five percent. Nissan sold just 8,330 Leaf's so far this year, but Sproule contends that it has less to do with styling, and more with the charging infrastructure. Sproule also thinks that Nissan hit a balance between styling and practicality with the Leaf: "It's still very recognizable as a five-seat hatchback, fully functioning, absolutely competitive with the packaging of the Golf of any other mainstream vehicle." For a segment where efficiency is king, isn't that what matters most?

Strains between France and Italy risk Renault-FCA merger

PARIS/ROME — Fiat Chrysler's proposed $35 billion merger with Renault has cheered investors, won conditional support from Paris and Rome and even earned cautious backing from trade unions. Beneath this veneer, however, the bold attempt to create the world's third-largest carmaker risks becoming rapidly embroiled in the fraught relationship between France's europhile President Emmanuel Macron and Italy's euroskeptic leaders. For while Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini hailed the proposal as a "brilliant operation," Italy's creaking, state-subsidized Fiat factories are likely to bear the brunt of any production-related cost savings. FCA and Renault said this week that more than 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion) of annual savings would come mainly from combining platforms, consolidating powertrain and electrification investments and the benefits of increased scale. Salvini and France's Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who called the deal a "good opportunity" to build a European industrial champion able to compete with China and the United States, have both said they want guarantees on local jobs. "It's not every day that I agree with Salvini," said Le Maire, whose government appears to hold the trump cards. When it comes to where any job cuts fall, France will be helped by its existing 15 percent holding in Renault, whose superior efficiency at its five French plants makes it better placed to handle a supply glut, the demise of the petrol engine and the investments needed for electric and autonomous vehicles. "It will take many, many years to find real savings, and ugly political and operational realities can often swamp the potential of such new entities," Bernstein analyst Max Warburton said of the FCA-Renault plan to rival Japan's Toyota and Germany's Volkswagen. Advantage France? As well as Italy's government having to cope with the aftermath of European elections, which coincided with news of the FCA-Renault plans, political leaders in Rome were only informed shortly before the deal was made public, an FCA source said. This contrasted with the way the French government was treated, with Fiat Chrysler Chairman John Elkann, a fluent French speaker, letting it know of his merger proposal to Renault weeks ago, a French government official said.