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Fiat Chrysler Automobiles targets mid-October IPO

The merged Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is targeting October 13 to launch its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, CEO Sergio Marchionne told reporters assembled for a meeting in Rimini, Italy.
"The most likely date for the listing in the US is October 13," Marchionne said, according to Reuters.
Marchionne is trusting that the money made in the IPO will be contribute heavily his ambitious, $64-billion five-year growth plan, which will see FCA reboot Alfa Romeo and Maserati and expand Jeep's global presence. Should the IPO fall short, though, Marchionne has confirmed that "all decision [sic] on any capital increase will be taken by the board of FCA at the end of October."

Stellantis aims to eliminate separate inverter, charger to improve EV efficiency

Stellantis has announced that, in collaboration with French battery company Saft and French National Center for Scientific Research, has made significant progress in eliminating two major components of an electric vehicle powertrain: the on-board charger and the power inverter for the motor. The company claims that doing this will allow for better space use in vehicles, as well as improvements in efficiency, cost and reliability of components. As a quick primer, also explained in the below video, the on-board charger and power inverter are sort of translators to get the right current to different parts of the electric powertrain. The on-board charger takes AC power from the grid and converts it to DC to charge the batteries. Then when power goes from the batteries to the electric motor, the power inverter converts that DC power back to AC. These components aren't exactly small. Frequently you'll find them packaged somewhere under the hood. What Stellantis and its cohorts have developed, and have been using on a test vehicle since last summer, are small power inverter boards that can be mounted very closely to the battery packs. They can handle both conversion needs, for charging and discharging, instead of needing two separate devices. The most obvious perk to this is that you can do away with those traditional components and free up more space, either for making smaller vehicles without losing interior volume, or adding space to a vehicle that wouldn't have had it otherwise. There's the additional benefit of reduced weight, something that EVs struggle with. Stellantis also claims improvements in efficiency, reliability, and cost, however, it didn't go into detail as to how this setup would do that exactly. We'll try to get in touch with representatives from Stellantis in order to get more information. We're still a ways out from seeing this technology in production Stellantis vehicles. The company said it aims to apply it to vehicles by the end of the decade. Saft is also looking at using it on stationary battery systems as well. So maybe we'll see it on a 2029 Ram 1500 REV, but for now, we'll be living with traditional chargers and inverters. Related Video: Green Alfa Romeo Chrysler Dodge Fiat RAM Technology Electric

Ferrari raises $893M, valued at $12B

Ferrari's stock is moving as quickly on the New York Stock Exchange as the brand's iconic sports cars do on the road. The company's incredibly popular initial public offering has already raised $893.1 million by virtue of 17.18 million shares sold for $52 apiece. If the deal's underwriters buy in as well, the figure would grow to $982.4 million. Plus, even after shouldering some of FCA's debt, the automaker carries an enterprise value of $12 billion, Bloomberg reports. Just as the company starts trading on the New York Stock Exchange, the share price is already racing upward, too. As of this writing, Ferrari stock, which is listed under the symbol RACE, is priced at $57.59. At its high so far today, the value reached as high as $60.95. While Ferrari is looking strong, the big winner in this success looks to be FCA because the company should raise $4 billion in the spin-off, according to Bloomberg. With nine percent of the sports car maker on the NYSE and one percent for the underwriters, another 80 percent will be distributed to FCA investors in 2016. When that's through, Exor, the holding company for the Agnelli/Elkann family, should have the largest stake at about 30 percent. Piero Ferrari holds the remaining 10 percent and has no intention to sell it. Related Video: FCA Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering of Ferrari N.V. Common Shares Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU/MI: FCA) ("FCA") and its subsidiary Ferrari N.V. ("Ferrari") announce today the pricing of Ferrari's initial public offering of 17,175,000 common shares at an offering price of $52 per share for a total offering size of $893.1 million ($982.4 million if the underwriters exercise the option described below in full). The shares are expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, October 21, 2015, under the symbol "RACE", and closing of the offering is expected to occur on October 26, 2015. In addition, the underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase an aggregate of up to 1,717,150 common shares of Ferrari from FCA. The offering is intended to be part of a series of transactions to separate Ferrari from FCA. Following completion of this offering, FCA expects to distribute its remaining ownership interest in Ferrari to FCA shareholders at the beginning of 2016. UBS Investment Bank is acting as Global Coordinator for the offering.