2013 Fiat 500 Lounge on 2040-cars

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Chrysler stays IPO until 2014

There will not be a Chrysler IPO in 2013. Fiat, according to a report from Forbes, has announced that it will not be able to make the American brand's initial public offering before the end of the year, saying that the short, five-week window that makes up the rest of 2013 is "not practicable."
Not surprisingly, the issue with the Chrysler IPO is the same as it's always been - a disagreement between parent company Fiat, which owns 58.5 percent of the Chrysler Group and a UAW healthcare trust, which owns 41.5 percent. Fiat wants to buy out the UAW VEBA healthcare trust, which is responsible for shouldering retiree healthcare costs, but the two sides are hung up on an actual price tag for the remaining two-fifths of the company.
The original idea saw an IPO as a way of setting a fair market price for the remaining shares, although it's not entirely clear what broke down and led to a delay of the IPO plan. As Forbes points out, by waiting until 2014, Chrysler could be risking a cool-off in the IPO market, which could mean less money in its pocket when the automaker finally goes public.

Fiat-Chrysler CEO: Please Don't Buy The Fiat 500e

Fiat-Chrysler's CEO had a strange request for electric vehicle shoppers on Wednesday: don't buy the all-electric Fiat 500e. While CEO Sergio Marchionne was speaking at a conference in Washington, he told the crowd he's tired of Chrysler-Fiat losing money, The Detroit News reported. "I hope you don't buy it [the 500e] because every time I sell one it costs me $14,000," he said to the audience at the Brookings Institution. "I'm honest enough to tell you that." Marchionne said federal and state fuel efficiency mandates are forcing the automaker to build unprofitable cars, according to Reuters. A normal Fiat 500 starts at $16,195, and the 500e starts at $32,650, before federal and state tax credits. There are no sales data to indicate how the 500e is performing. Related Gallery The Best Hybrids For The Money View 12 Photos Green Chrysler Fiat Car Buying Electric fiat 500e

VW, Fiat deny merger talks

All parties involved are actively denying a potentially Earth-shattering shakeup in the automotive universe, as a German business publication claimed that Volkswagen and Fiat have been discussing the possibility of a merger.
The magazine, Manager Magazin, claimed that Fiat was looking to ditch its volume automotive business in order to focus even more heavily on Ferrari, according to Automotive News Europe. The report claims that the merger would allow Chrysler to help bolster the Volkswagen brand in the United States.
Not surprisingly, Volkswagen, Fiat and the Agnelli family (which owns a 30-percent stake in FCA) have all denied this report. VW has said it's focusing on efficiency within its own group, and isn't looking at any takeover plans, according to AN. The Agnelli family, meanwhile, has also denied talks, while Fiat officials say are unaware of any talks.