2013 Fiat 500 Pop Hatchback 2-door 1.4l, Automatic With 865 Miles-like New! on 2040-cars

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Fiat celebrates 30 years of Panda 4x4 with Antartica edition [w/poll]

Typically, 4x4s are rather large affairs, but the Fiat Panda stands resolutely against the trend. And what's more, it's done just that for 30 years now, over the course of which Fiat has rolled out three successive generations and sold over 400,000 examples of the little off-roader that could. So to celebrate three decades of the Panda 4x4, Fiat is rolling out this special edition.
Called the Fiat Panda 4x4 Antartica, it's set to debut next week at the Frankfurt Motor Show alongside a new Black Code trim for the Freemont (known to us as the Dodge Journey) and an anniversary edition Abarth 595. Fiat has based this special edition on the Panda 4x4 Rock and upgraded it with two-tone paint, 15-inch diamond-finish alloys, orange trim, fog lights, tinted glass and special badging. Inside, it's got gray and orange upholstery, and European buyers can order it up with either the 85-horsepower 900cc TwinAir engine or the 75hp 1.3-liter diesel.
A limited run will reach European showrooms by the end of the year. But we wonder... should Fiat consider bringing the Panda Stateside to share floor space with the diminutive 500? Have your say in our informal poll below, and feel free to read through the press release, too.

Court ruling to delay Fiat's Chrysler buyout?

We've already reported on the attempts of Fiat to purchase the remaining 41.5-percent stake in Chrysler, currently owned by the United Auto Workers' VEBA healthcare trust. And while the issues still aren't resolved, Fiat has received both a bit of good news and a bit of bad news from a Delaware judge.
The good news is that the court ruled in favor on two key arguments of Fiat's, relating to what is a fair price for the Chrysler shares. The rulings essentially slash half a billion dollars off the price of the 54,000 shares owned by VEBA, according to a report from Reuters.
The bad news is that this makes the UAW an even more difficult opponent in negotiations. Its VEBA fund is meant to cover ever escalating retiree healthcare costs, so naturally, the UAW wants to get as much money as possible. Losing a big chunk of cash isn't likely to make the union more cooperative.

FCA compromises with France, moving Renault merger bid forward

FRANKFURT/PARIS – Renault directors were preparing to review Fiat Chrysler's $35 billion merger offer on Tuesday, after the Italian-American carmaker resolved differences with the French government overnight, three sources said. The compromise on French government influence over a combined FCA-Renault may clear the way for Renault's board to approve a framework agreement beginning the long process of a full merger, unless new issues surface at the meeting. France, Renault's biggest shareholder with a 15% stake, had been pressing for its own guaranteed seat on the new board and an effective veto on CEO appointments. But after late-night talks with FCA Chairman John Elkann, the French government has accepted a compromise that would see it occupy one of four board seats allocated to Renault, balanced by four FCA appointees, the sources said. Renault would also cede one of its two seats on a four-member CEO nominations committee to the French state, they said. Renault, FCA and the French government all declined to comment on the discussions. The same evening that the compromise was was negotiated, activist hedge fund CIAM wrote to the board of Renault to say it "strongly opposed" a planned $35 billion merger with Fiat Chrysler. Calling the deal "opportunistic," the fund said the current deal terms strongly favored Fiat Chrysler and offered no control premium. (Reporting by Arno Schuetze and Laurence Frost; additional reporting by Giulio Piovaccari in Milan and Simon Jessop; editing by Jason Neely and Rachel Armstrong) Government/Legal Chrysler Fiat Mitsubishi Nissan Renault merger