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Fiat Chrysler open to mergers, and PSA is looking for one

GENEVA — Fiat Chrysler (FCA) is open to pursuing alliances and merger opportunities if they make sense, but a sale of its luxury brand Maserati is not an option, Chief Executive Mike Manley said on Tuesday. "We have a strong independent future, but if there is a partnership, a relationship or a merger which strengthens that future, I will look at that," Manley told reporters at the Geneva Motor Show. Asked whether he would consider selling Maserati to China's Geely Automobile Holdings, as suggested by recent media reports, Manley said: "Maserati is one of our really beautiful brands and it has an incredibly bright future. ... No." FCA is often cited as a possible merger candidate. Bloomberg said this week that the Italian-American carmaker was attractive to France's PSA Group given its exposure to the U.S. market and its popular Jeep brand. The Detroit News' headline on the situation Friday read, "Fiat Chrysler CEO open to a deal as PSA circles" and stated that Manley's open-to-just-about-anything comments were aimed directly at PSA. Bloomberg said talks between the two were preliminary and said PSA chief Carlos Tavares has also contemplated mergers with General Motors or Jaguar Land Rover, which is losing money for Indian owner Tata. PSA has enjoyed a decade of turnaround and has $10.2 billion in net cash available. The maker of Peugeot, Citroen and DS, acquired Opel and Vauxhall in 2017 and made them almost instantly profitable. Manley, who took over after the death of Sergio Marchionne, said he currently had no news on possible deals. Manley also said the world's seventh-largest carmaker, which is lagging rivals in developing hybrid and electric vehicles, would take the least costly approach to comply with increasingly more stringent European emissions regulations. "There are three options. You can sell enough electrified vehicles to balance your fleet. Two: You can be part of a pooling scheme. Three is to pay the fines," he said. "I don't see a scenario when (carmakers) continue to subsidize technologies ... indefinitely." The carmaker had said last June it would invest 9 billion euros ($10.19 billion) over the next five years to introduce hybrid and electric cars across all regions to be fully compliant with emissions regulations. Asked about a 5-billion-euro investment plan for Italy FCA announced in November but then put under review, Manley said the plan had been confirmed as originally presented.

The Rolls-Royce Dawn leads this month's list of discounts

If you're one of the few readers of this site who is in the market for a $350,000 Rolls-Royce Dawn, well, first of all, good for you. And you should be prepared to keep some extra money in your pocket, too, as the drop-top Roller leads this month's list of the largest monetary discounts with an average of $14,733 taken off the machine's $359,250 sticker price. That means buyers are paying an average transaction price of $344,517 for the 2020 Rolls-Royce Dawn this month, according to data provided to Autoblog by TrueCar, which equals about 4.1% off the price on the sticker. An intriguing pair of supercars land in second and third positions this month. The 2019 Acura NSX is selling for an average of $145,174 this month, which represents a 9% discount, or $14,373. With an eerily similar 9% discount of $14,079 comes the 2020 Aston Martin Vantage, which has an average transaction price of $142,002 this month. The Maserati Quattroporte is up next with an average discount of $13,634. Another Rolls-Royce model lands in the fifth spot, but instead of the aging Dawn it's the brand-new Cullinan SUV. Although the luxury 'ute boasts a large discount of $12,427, its staggeringly high retail price of $332,750 means buyers are getting a little less than 4% off the sticker. More interesting to most buyers will be the 2019 Lincoln Navigator, which is one of our favorite full-size SUVs in America. Buyers of Lincoln's range-topping vehicle are getting average discounts of $11,761. That represents a 13.4% savings for a final price of $75,940. For a look at the best new car deals in America based on the percentage discount off their suggested asking prices, check out our monthly recap here. And when you're ready to buy, click here for the Autoblog Smart Buy program, which brings you a hassle-free buying experience with over 9,000 Certified Dealers nationwide. Related Video:

Maserati pulls the plug on Trofeo spec racing series [w/video]

For the past twelve years, customers looking to push their Maserati to the limit have been taking part in the Trofeo series. But the Italian automaker is pulling the plug and stepping into to GT4 competition. The Trofeo World Series kicked off back in 2003 when the field was made up of spec racers based on the old Maserati 4200. The newer GranTurismo MC took its place in 2010, and with it the series expanded from Europe into other locations. This year's calendar saw it race at Paul Ricard in France and the Red Bull Ring in Austria, at Road America, VIR, and Laguna Seca here in America, at Suzuka in Japan and Abu Dhabi in the Middle East.This will be the last season for the championship, but that doesn't mean client racers won't have a chance to turn the wheel of a Maserati in anger again. Instead of competing exclusively against identical machinery, Maserati will now support customer teams in two racing series under GT4 regulations: the Pirelli World Challenge here in the US and the European GT4 Championship across the pond. To that end, it's adapting the GranTurismo MC from Trofeo spec to GT4 by reducing the output from the 4.7-liter V8 from 488 horsepower to 430 and tweaking the aero package. Following the Balance of Performance tests to be undertaken under the auspices of the SRO (which runs the Euro GT4 series as well as the Blancpain championships), a good 10 teams will field 20 cars between the two series on both sides of the Atlantic. Those still interested in competing in spec racing series with identical machinery still have plenty of places to turn, including the Ferrari Challenge, Lamborghini Super Trofeo, and the Porsche Supercup. Check out the modified Maserati GranTurismo MC GT4 in the gallery above and video below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. MASERATI TO COMPETE IN THE 2016 GT4 CHAMPIONSHIPS 17 December 2015 - The final round of the 2015 Trofeo World Series took place at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina circuit last weekend, bringing the sixth and final season in Maserati's single-make series to a close. This, however, will not be the end of Maserati's sporting activities: the GranTurismo MCs will be back on track in 2016 competing in the international GT4 series run by private teams.