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Investors want answers about Marchionne’s final days

The mystery of Sergio Marchionne's surprise death last week continues, with investors now questioning the timeliness of disclosures by the company and family. Bloomberg reports that Italy's market regulator is making a routine check into how Fiat Chrysler handled communications regarding his illness. Fiat Chrysler's stock is down 12 percent in both Italy and on the New York Stock Exchange since the announcement of Marchionne's death. University Hospital Zurich last week issued a statement saying that Marchionne, who died July 25 while recovering from an unspecified should surgery, had been treated for more than a year for a serious illness that it didn't define. Marchionne's family told Reuters the companies hadn't been aware of his health conditions. The Italian business website Lettera 43 reported July 5, and FCA later confirmed, that Marchionne had undergone shoulder surgery in a Swiss hospital. But the company later denied a July 20 report by the website that Fiat Chairman John Elkann planned to meet with company leaders to divide Marchionne's responsibilities. Yet the FCA board indeed met on July 21 and chose Mike Manley, who had formerly overseen the Jeep and Ram brands, to succeed Marchionne as CEO. The company on July 25 published a brief statement acknowledging the former CEO's death. "Unfortunately, what we feared has come to pass. Sergio Marchionne, man and friend, is gone," Elkann said in the statement. Marchionne told no one outside his inner circle — reportedly not even Elkann — that he was seriously ill. His partner, Manuela Battezzato, who works in Fiat's press department, told Bloomberg that Marchionne's family didn't tell the company about his health condition. The famously hard-working CEO, who had quit smoking about a year ago, had also reportedly stopped responding to messages and calls from some advisors since the end of June. People close to him told Bloomberg that Marchionne died from complications following the shoulder surgery, including two cardiac arrests. Image Credit: Ferrari flags hang at half-staff at the Hungarian Grand Prix / Getty Chrysler Fiat Sergio Marchionne

Fiat's 500 battery EV to start at $23,550 in Italy after incentives

MILAN — Fiat Chrysler's new electric 500 will have an entry price of 25,900 euros ($30,600) but is subject to a 6,000-euro incentive offered by Italy's government that brings the price down to $19,900 ($23,550), a senior executive from the Italian-American automaker said on Thursday. Fiat Chrysler will start selling a full range of the electric version (BEV) of its popular city car this weekend, after officially unveiling it and offering it in two premium configurations earlier this year. Olivier Francois, head of the Fiat brand and FCA's chief marketing officer, said that the group would also offer two more expensive versions of the 500 BEV. The EV incentive will bring their prices down to 23,700 euros and 25,200 euros. The cheapest version will have a range of 185 kilometers, while for others the range will be 320 km. As well as the baseline incentive, buyers of electric cars in Italy are offered a further 4,000-euro discount if they scrap an old car. "If you have an old car to scrap, the new 500 BEV could be even cheaper than its petrol-engined sister, whose most popular version costs around 17,000 euros," Francois said. The 500 BEV, which is part of a plan announced in 2018 to invest 5 billion euros in Italy up to 2021, is FCA's first major step into electric-powered driving. Competing electric cars include the Mini Cooper SE, which has a starting price of 33,900 euros ($40,000) in Italy before incentives, and Peugeot's e-208, starting at 33,750 euros. Related Video:

Trump Administration will look 'very carefully' at FCA/Peugeot deal

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump's administration will look very closely at the planned merger between Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot owner PSA, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Friday. The deal, announced on Thursday, would create the world's fourth-largest automaker. "We will obviously look at it very, very carefully," Kudlow said on Bloomberg. "The president has not commented on the deal ... We're not afraid of doing business with international companies, Lord knows." When asked about the 12.2% equity stake and 19.5% voting stake China's Dongfeng Motors holds in PSA, Kudlow said: "With respect to the Chinese story, we obviously are alert and on guard." The deal, which would be structured as a 50-50 merger, would create the fourth-largest global automaker with annual sales of nearly 9 million vehicles. Fiat Chrysler told employees the deal could generate synergies of 3.7 billion euros but added "these synergies are NOT based on closing plants." Fiat Chrysler declined to comment. There has been speculation Dongfeng might sell its holdings, which could help ease the deal's passage through U.S. regulators, given U.S.-Chinese trade tensions. "We will welcome a good deal. We hope it will get more production in the United States, more factories and workers and employment in the U.S. And with respect to the Chinese angle, we will take a careful look at it," Kudlow said. Fiat Chrysler said on Thursday that "teams at both companies are working to finalize discussions and reach a Memorandum of Understanding in the coming weeks."