Repairable Rebuildable Wrecked Salvage Project E Z Fix 5 Speed Coupe 1.4 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Fiat Chrysler's Marchionne is done talking about alliances

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne rowed back on his search for a merger on Friday, saying the car maker was not in a position to seek deals for now and would focus instead on following its business plan. Marchionne had repeatedly called for mergers in the car industry and a tie-up has long been seen as the ultimate aim of his relaunch of Fiat Chrysler, which he is due to leave in early 2019 after 15 years at the helm. He sought a merger with General Motors two years ago but was rebuffed. Only last month he said Volkswagen - the market leader in Europe - may agree to discuss a tie-up with FCA in reaction to rival PSA Group's acquisition of Opel. Marchionne told the annual general meeting in Amsterdam he still saw the need for car companies to merge to better shoulder the large investments needed, but said Fiat Chrysler was not talking to Volkswagen. "On the Volkswagen issue, on the question if there are ongoing discussions, the answer is no," he said. He added, without elaborating, that Fiat Chrysler was not at a stage where it could discuss any alliances. "The primary focus is the execution of the plan," he said. FCA has pledged to swing to a 5 billion euro net cash position by 2018, from net debt of 4.6 billion euros at the end of 2016 - an achievement that Marchionne has said would put it in a better position to strike a deal in the future. Volkswagen, which is still reeling from an emissions scandal that hurt its profits, initially spurned FCA's approach. However, CEO Matthias Mueller said last month the group had become more open on the issue of tie-ups and invited Marchionne to speak to him directly rather than with the press. Fiat Chrysler Chairman John Elkann underlined the message that finding a merger partner was not a priority. "I'm not interested in a big merger deal," he said. "Historically, deals are struck at times of difficulty ... we don't want to be in trouble." Elkann is the scion of Fiat's founder and top shareholder the Agnelli family. He has said in the past he was prepared to have the Agnelli's stake severely diluted in exchange for a minority holding in a larger auto group. "I believe the priority for FCA is to press ahead with this ambitious (business) plan despite the difficult environment," he said. FCA pledged in January to nearly halve net debt this year, as part of the 2018 plan. Doubts remain about its exposure to a peaking U.S.

Marchionne may stay with FCA until 2020

We might get to see Sergio Marchionne and his vast array of sweaters in the auto industry for even longer than expected. The FCA CEO suggested last year that he would retire from the automaker when its current five-year plan was complete in 2018. Now, he has tentatively extended that point out to at least 2020. "I can do this for another five years if you push me, right? Beyond that, I ain't gonna do it, and I don't want to," he said to Automotive News. That would give Marchionne a 16-year career at the top from joining Fiat in 2004 to possibly leaving FCA in 2020. Although, take the CEO's statement with a grain of salt because he has made multiple statements about the timing for his retirement. In 2012, Marchionne said he would only remain in charge until 2015, which is, well, now. Those five years might also go quite quickly because Marchionne is a busy guy with the Ferrari IPO, the attempted merger with General Motors, implementing FCA's five-year plan, and many other projects. He's already considering the next CEO, though. "My purpose in life is to find the Kuniskises of the world, the Manleys, the Biglands, the Palmers," Marchionne said to Automotive News, referencing the heads at Dodge, Jeep, FCA North America, and the company's chief financial officer, respectively. "I told them, 'One of you is going to do what I do one day. I don't know who that is, but one of you is going to do it.'" News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Paul Sancya / AP Photo Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep Sergio Marchionne FCA fca us Mike Manley reid bigland tim kuniskis

Fiat 500 joins the Hyundai Veloster in the three-door hatchback club

Fiat aims to retain motorists on the brink of outgrowing the pocket-sized 500 by expanding the line-up with a more practical variant fitted with a single rear-hinged half door. Called 3+1, it's offered exclusively as an electric car. Viewed from the driver's side, the 3+1 looks almost exactly like the new 500 introduced earlier in 2020. It's when you walk around to the passenger's side that you notice the differences. Stylists made the front door shorter to accommodate a half door similar to what we've seen on several extended-cab pickups, the Mazda RX-8, and a couple of Saturn models. Hyundai's Veloster is a three-door hatch, too, but its third door is hinged at the front. Fiat explained the half door can only be opened after the front door is pulled out of the way to ensure the passengers don't accidentally unlatch it. It left out the b-pillar, so users can access the rear bench without having to perform contortionist-like moves to clear the front passenger's seat. Extra door aside, the 3+1 is a regular 500; its dimensions are identical to the two-door model's, and it weighs approximately 66 pounds more.  Everything under the sheet metal is shared with the two-door 500, too, meaning the 3+1 is built on a 42-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack that zaps a 118-horsepower electric motor into motion. Its driving range checks in at 199 miles on the rather optimistic WLTP testing cycle, and the sprint from zero to 62 mph takes nine seconds. Keep your foot down, and the speedometer needle will stop moving after it hits 93 mph, the 500's top speed. Fiat hasn't published pricing yet, but it's of little interest to us because the 3+1 will not be sold in the United States due in part to its small size. Even the last-generation 500 – which will remain in production in the foreseeable future – has been axed from the company's American range. If you're curious, however, the new two-door model starts at 25,900 euros (about $30,600) before various incentives enter the equation. This partially explains why it will not be sold in America; Fiat doesn't think it can talk Americans into spending crossover money on a city car. What about the wagon? Rewind to 2018, when former Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) boss Sergio Marchionne presented the group's five-year plan in front of investors from all over the world. Although he focused on Jeep and Ram, he announced the return of the 500 Giardiniera nameplate used by Fiat and Autobianchi between 1960 and 1977.