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Hyundai reportedly eyeing a takeover of FCA

The CEO of Hyundai Motor Group plans to launch a takeover bid for Fiat Chrysler ahead of the planned retirement of FCA Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne next spring, Asia Times reports, citing unnamed sources close the situation. CEO Chung Mong-koo will wait for an expected decline in the Italian-American automaker's shares to make his move. Hyundai isn't commenting on the rumors, unsurprisingly, but would presumably stand to benefit by gaining Chrysler's dealer network and the lucrative Jeep brand and probably Ram, too. An FCA spokeswoman in Auburn Hills told Autoblog the company had no comment. But like any story about a possible takeover, this one gets complicated with inside players — and President Trump's posturing on international trade issues. FCA has been the subject of takeover interest before, including by Hyundai, but Marchionne has denied a merger was likely, instead saying his company was in talks with the Korean automaker about a technical partnership. In 2015, Marchionne lobbied General Motors hard, but unsuccessfully, for a tie-up; he was also spurned by Volkswagen. Marchionne had repeatedly stressed the need for car companies to merge to decrease overcapacity and better afford the massive investments needed for things like autonomous and electric vehicles. In the case of Hyundai's reported interest, there is a cast of characters. One is Paul Singer, principal of the hedge fund Elliott Management, an activist shareholder with a $1 billion stake in Hyundai and a major owner of equities in Fiat's home turf of Italy. Then there is FCA Chairman John Elkann, who reportedly disagrees with Marchionne on a successor as CEO of Fiat Chrysler but has little interest in running the company himself and would prefer a merger. Compounding things is what the Trump administration would think of a further blending of Fiat Chrysler's international DNA, though a deal with a Korean automaker is thought to be more palatable to the president and members of Congress than by a Chinese conglomerate like Great Wall Motor, which has confirmed its interest in taking over all or parts of FCA. The full Asia Times piece is here. Related Video: News Source: Asia TimesImage Credit: REUTERS/Rebecca Cook Chrysler Fiat Hyundai Jeep RAM Sergio Marchionne FCA merger takeover

Stellantis ready to kill brands and fix U.S. problems, CEO Tavares says

  MILAN — Stellantis is taking steps to fix weak margins and high inventory at its U.S. operations and will not hesitate to axe underperforming brands in its sprawling portfolio, its chief executive Carlos Tavares said on Thursday. The warning for lossmaking brands is a turnaround for Tavares, who has maintained since Stellantis was created in 2021 from the merger of Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA that all of its 14 brands including Maserati, Fiat, Peugeot and Jeep have a future. "If they don't make money, we'll shut them down," Carlos Tavares told reporters after the world's No. 4 automaker delivered worse-than-expected first-half results, sending its shares down as much as 10%. "We cannot afford to have brands that do not make money." The automaker now also considers China's Leapmotor as its 15th brand, after it agreed to a broad cooperation with the group. Stellantis does not release figures for individual brands, except for Maserati which reported an 82 million euro adjusted operating loss in the first half. Some analysts say Maserati could possibly be a target for a sale by Stellantis, while other brands such as Lancia or DS might be at risk of being scrapped given their marginal contribution to the group's overall sales. Stellantis' Milan-listed shares were down as much as 12.5% on Thursday, hitting their lowest since August 2023. That brings the loss for the year so far to 22%, making them the worst performer among the major European automakers. Few automotive brands have been killed off since General Motors ditched the unprofitable Saturn and Pontiac during a U.S. government-led bankruptcy in the global financial crisis in 2008. Tavares is under pressure to revive flagging margins and sales and cut inventory in the United States as Stellantis bets on the launch of 20 new models this year which it hopes will boost profitability. Recent poor results from global carmakers have heightened worries about a weakening outlook for sales across major markets such as the U.S., whilst they also juggle an expensive transition to electric vehicles and growing competition from cheaper Chinese rivals. Japan's Nissan Motor saw first-quarter profit almost completely wiped out on Thursday and slashed its annual outlook, as deep discounting in the United States shredded its margins. Tavares said he would be working through the summer with his U.S. team on how to improve performance and cut inventory.

FCA delays Grand Wagoneer and next-generation heavy-duty Ram trucks

The upcoming Jeep Grand Wagoneer has had a tumultuous gestation thus far. At one point it was essentially confirmed, but later it was rumored to have been cancelled. In that context, the latest report from Automotive News is something of a mixed blessing. According to the publication, the Grand Wagoneer has simply been delayed, as has the next-generation Ram heavy duty truck line. This does not seem to affect the fully redesigned Ram 1500, which was previously reported to have been pushed back slightly to 2019. Automotive News says the information came from unnamed sources at the company. Nothing was said about how long the vehicles would be delayed. The publication also conjectures that FCA is delaying the models to save some money to help cover the company's $7 billion of debt , since re-tooling both the heavy-duty truck plant and eventual Grand Wagoneer plant will be expensive. View 6 Photos We reached out to Chrysler for more information on the subject, but the company wouldn't comment on the report. Even so, we wouldn't be too surprised if FCA is indeed delaying these products. The company has delayed a number of vehicles in recent years. In fact nearly every major FCA truck and SUV, including the Grand Wagoneer and Ram line, were delayed about a year and a half ago. We certainly hope the company doesn't delay the Grand Wagoneer for too long, since it's possible it will have a price tag of over $130,000. The profit margins on an SUV with that kind of MSRP would go a long way to helping to pay down the company's debt. Related Video: