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Macron and Le Pen decry 'shocking' Stellantis CEO pay

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron and his far-right challenger in the French presidential vote, Marine Le Pen, on Friday both decried as “shocking” the multimillion euro payout to the CEO of carmaker Stellantis. Stellantis CEO Carlos TavaresÂ’ remuneration package of 19.15 million euros just a year after the company was formed became an issue as Macron and Le Pen campaigned ahead of the April 24 runoff vote. Polls show purchasing power and inflation are a top voter concern. Stellantis was formed last year through the merger of PSA Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Centrist President Emmanuel Macron, perceived by many voters as being too pro-business, called the pay package “astronomical” and pushed for a Europe-wide effort to set ceilings on “abusive” executive pay. “ItÂ’s shocking, itÂ’s excessive,” he said Friday on broadcaster France-Info. “People canÂ’t have problems with purchasing power, difficulties, the anguish theyÂ’re living with, and see these sums. Otherwise, society will explode.” Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who enjoys support from many working-class voters, called for bringing in more workers as shareholders. “Of course itÂ’s shocking, and itÂ’s even more shocking when it is the CEOs who have pushed their society into difficulty,” she said Friday on BFM television. “One of the ways to diminish this pay, which is often out of proportion with economic life, is perhaps to allow workers in as shareholders.” Stellantis continued to back the package despite a 52.1% to 47.9% vote rejecting it at an annual shareholders' meeting chaired from the Netherlands, where the company is legally based, on Wednesday. The company, citing Dutch civil code, noted that the vote is advisory and not binding. The company later said in a statement that it took note of the vote, and will explain in an upcoming 2022 remuneration report “how this vote has been taken into account.” In the 2021 report, the company identified peer group companies that it used as a salary benchmark, including U.S. companies like Boeing, Exxon Mobile, General Electric as well as carmakers Ford and General Motors. Stellantis, whose brands include Peugeot, Fiat, Jeep, Opel and Maserati, reported net profits last year had tripled to 13.4 billion euros ($15.2 billion). The French government is the third-largest shareholder in Stellantis, with a 6.15% stake through the Bpifrance Participations S.A. French public investment bank.

Fiat Chrysler will invest up to $1.5 billion to build EVs in Windsor

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will invest between $1.35 billion and $1.5 billion in its Windsor assembly plant in Canada to build electric vehicles as part of a tentative deal with Canadian autoworkers, Unifor National President Jerry Dias said on Thursday. The auto union said FCA would invest in a state-of-the-art vehicle platform that will enable the assembly of plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles, with at least one new model in 2025. The announcement comes less than a month after Unifor said Ford would invest $1.46 billion in its Oakville and Windsor plants. "Not only is Fiat-Chrysler maintaining the current portfolio but they will be investing three derivatives to enhance the current portfolio," Dias said. Unifor also said it expects to extend the life of the Chrysler 300, a rear-wheel-drive luxury car and introduce multiple derivatives of the Dodge Charger and Challenger. The union said as many as 2,000 jobs would be added in 2024 at the Windsor plant. Market forecasting firm LMC Automotive on Thursday said it would take until 2024 for U.S. vehicle sales to recover from the coronavirus downturn and get close to the 17 million vehicles sold in 2019. Ratification meetings for the FCA deal will happen over the weekend, and members will vote on whether to accept the agreement on Sunday. The union is expected to begin negotiations with General Motors's Canadian unit next week. Related Video: Green Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Plants/Manufacturing UAW/Unions Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep RAM Coupe Electric Sedan windsor

Fiat eyes droptop SUV market with 500X convertible

Fiat will add a convertible version of the 500X crossover, Automotive News Europe has confirmed. The droptop variant will retain the side structure of the hardtop version, including the doors and door frames, and will utilize a roll-bar canvas top that incorporates the rear window, similar to the design of the 500 Cabrio. The open-air crossover is due to begin production this year. There's no word from FCA's U.S. arm on whether the model will come to the United States. Fiat's U.S. dealers might very well want it, given that they just lost the 124 Spider and the 500L hatchback for 2021. This despite the unenviable sales track record for crossover convertibles. Outside of hardcore off-roaders like the Jeep Wrangler (and, by all appearances, the new Ford Bronco), the notion of a convertible SUV has proven to be a sales flop. The odd-duck Nissan Murano Cross Cabriolet, which at least made more of an effort with its two-door body and full soft top, was nonetheless an embarrassing failure that expired with the second-generation Murano in 2014. Land Rover's first-generation Range Rover Evoque already had a two-door body style when it, too, took a stab at the idea with the Evoque Convertible for 2017. The Evoque was already something of a high-end fashion statement, so maybe the beautiful people who summer in the Hamptons or the south of France would want to bop around town in a baby SUV that allowed them to show off their fabulous selves. Turns out, no. The Evoque convertible pointedly was left on the shelf (along with the two-door hardtop) when the model was redesigned for 2020. Maybe things will be different for Fiat. In Europe, the 500X convertible will go up against the only other vehicle of its type, Volkswagen's T-Roc Cabriolet. At the launch of that VW in late 2019, Volkswagen's board member in charge of marketing asserted that the idea of combining a convertible and a crossover was "a great opportunity," and yet he also said, "From a rational side, you would never go into the cabriolet market.” For Fiat — as well as for Volkswagen — it's likely that one of those sentiments will prove correct.