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Reid Bigland appointed CEO of Alfa Romeo, Maserati

There's been a big shakeup in Fiat Chrysler's leadership team, as head of US sales and FCA Canada CEO Reid Bigland will replace Harald Wester as the chief exec for Alfa Romeo and Maserati. Wester will retain his position as chief technical officer of FCA. Both men will hang onto their positions on FCA's Group Executive Council. The move is an interesting one considering the widely publicized issues at both Alfa and Maserati. Alfa Romeo's problems are almost too many to list. The brand has promised a full-scale return to the US market for more than a decade, but faced repeated delays. Its latest volume model, the Giulia, is being savaged by reviewers over quality issues, and the company has frequently pushed its upcoming CUV back. If that were the only problem, it'd be annoying, but according to Automotive News, Alfa's relaunch is also considerably over budget. Maserati is an entirely different can of worms. Alongside Alfa, it's been stung by a slow Chinese market. Profits are down, according to Automotive News, and it's been widely rumored that the company will delay its next sports car, the Alfieri, until 2018 – it was previously promised for this year. Meanwhile, two of its three other models, the Quattroporte and GranTurismo, are dangerously long in the tooth, and the Levante is still months away from US sales. Can Bigland sort these issues out? Maybe. As Sergio Marchionne said in his official statement, "[Bigland] has an extraordinary record of growing sales and market share in the US and Canada over the last 7 years at FCA, including leading the growth and positioning of the Ram and Dodge brands for part of that time."

Junkyard Gem: 1987 Chrysler LeBaron Coupe

For the 1989 through 1991 model years, Chrysler and Maserati teamed up to create one of the most fascinating machines of the era: the Chrysler TC by Maserati. Built in Milan, the chassis and general body lines of the TC derived from the smooth-looking 1987 Chrysler LeBaron Coupe (just as its Turin/Hamtramck-made Cadillac Allante competitor traced its ancestry to the Eldorado). After writing about a few discarded TCs, I decided that I'd keep my junkyard eye open for an example of its LeBaron Coupe sibling. Here's an '87, customized in proper mid-2000s-style Fast & Furious Mode, found in a self-service yard in northeastern Colorado. The LeBaron name came from a 1930s coachbuilder, ultimately bought by Chrysler, and spent many decades being applied to super-luxe Imperial models. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Chrysler glued LeBaron badges and lots of bling on the Dodge Diplomat; the famous Iacocca-era K-Car LeBarons followed in the 1982 model year. The original K-based LeBaron Coupe seemed boxy and stodgy, so a slicker design went on a modified K chassis for the 1987 through 1995 model years. This car got some serious interior modifications at some point, including aftermarket seats, purple-and-white paint on the dash, and fiberglass door panels. The original door controls now live in diamond-plate panels. The gauge faces have faded in the harsh Colorado sun, but they appear to be custom-made. The engine is long gone from the yellow-wire-loom-decorated compartment, but the emissions sticker on the hood underside indicates that it was the 2.2-liter turbocharged four, rated at 146 horsepower. That was a big number for a 2,731-pound car in 1987. More LeBarons than you might have expected came with manual transmissions around this time, but this one has the three-speed automatic. The big-bore tailpipe got stuffed with dirt at some point during this car's journey here. The hood scoop must have been so good that a junkyard shopper grabbed it. I hope it stood at least a foot tall. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. James Earl Jones did the narration on these heart-pounding advertisements. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Even though the earlier LeBarons were very different cars, we need to get Ricardo Montalban in here. Here's Ricardo after being seduced by the '84 LeBaron convertible.

FCA-Renault revival may hinge on willingness to cut Nissan stake

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Renault are looking for ways to resuscitate their collapsed merger plan and secure the approval of the French carmaker's alliance partner Nissan, according to several sources close to the companies. Nissan is poised to urge Renault to significantly reduce its 43.4% stake in the Japanese company in return for supporting a FCA-Renault tie-up, two people with knowledge of its thinking also told Reuters. It is still far from clear whether any concerted effort to revive the complex and politically fraught deal can succeed. FCA Chairman John Elkann abruptly withdrew his $35 billion merger offer in the early hours of June 6 after the French government, Renault's biggest shareholder, blocked a vote by its board and demanded more time to win Nissan's backing. Nissan representatives had said they would abstain. The failure, which FCA and Renault blamed squarely on the French government, deprived both companies of an opportunity to create the world's third-biggest carmaker with 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion) in promised annual synergies. It also shone a harsh light on Renault's relations with Nissan, which have gone from frayed to fried since the November arrest of former alliance Chairman Carlos Ghosn, now awaiting trial in Japan on financial misconduct charges he denies. REVIVAL TALKS Italian-American FCA — whose brand stable encompasses Fiat runabouts, Jeep SUVs, RAM pickups, Alfa Romeo luxury cars and Maserati sports cars — has so far turned a deaf ear to suggestions by French officials that its merger proposal could be revisited. But since the breakdown, Elkann and his French counterpart Jean-Dominique Senard have had talks about reviving the plan that left the Renault chairman and his Chief Executive Thierry Bollore upbeat about that prospect, three alliance sources said. Renault and a spokesman for FCA declined to comment. One of Elkann's senior advisors on the Renault merger bid, Toby Myerson, was expected at Nissan headquarters in Yokohama on Monday for exploratory discussions with top management, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa is likely to attend. Myerson did not respond to a message from Reuters seeking comment. The meeting comes amid mounting strains that may preclude compromise, after Senard warned Saikawa that Renault was prepared to block key Nissan governance reforms in a dispute over board committees.