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Google And FCA To Build Self-Driving Minivans In Partnership | Autoblog Minute

FCA and Google will work together to build self-driving minivans in a Motor City-Silicon Valley partnership. Chrysler Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video chrysler pacifica minivans

Fiat Chrysler agrees to new $3.8 billion credit facility with banks

MILAN — Fiat Chrysler said on Thursday it has agreed a new credit facility with two banks, at a time when major carmakers are having to shut down plants, losing revenue as demand slumps in the wake of the coronavirus. Most of FCA's plants around the world are currently shut in response to the virus emergency. Italian investment firm Exor, which controls FCA, said on Wednesday that the temporary closures might continue and increase depending on how the coronavirus outbreak develops. FCA said the credit facility would be available "for general corporate purposes and for working capital needs" of the group and that it was structured as a "bridge facility" to support its access to capital markets. "This transaction confirms the continued strong support of FCA's international key relationship banks in the current extraordinary circumstances," the automaker said in a statement, without making any explicit link between the new facility and the impact the virus is having on the global economy. The facility can be drawn in a single tranche of 3.5 billion euros ($3.8 billion), with an initial 12-month term which can be extended for further six months. It adds to existing credit facilities worth 7.7 billion euros, including lines for 1.5 billion euros that the company has started to draw down, FCA said. FCA is in merger talks with Peugeot owner PSA to create the world's fourth biggest carmaker. The deal is expected to be finalized by the first quarter of next year. Equita's analyst Martino De Ambroggi said that, based on his new assumption of a 10% drop of global auto market this year, the crisis triggered by the coronavirus would impact the merged automaker's free cash flow by over 5 billion euros. Earlier this week, General Motors announced it will draw about $16 billion from its credit lines in a bid to beef up liquidity amid rising business impact from the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak. And last week, rival Ford abandoned its 2020 forecast and said it was drawing down $15.4 billion from two credit facilities to bolster its balance sheet. Related Video:

Fiat Chrysler chief still says EVs can't make money

Add Sergio Marchionne's insistence that it's impossible to make money on electric vehicle production to death and taxes among things we can all count on. The Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO, speaking in an interview with UK's Car Magazine, implied that Tesla Motors was "the iPhone of cars." The metaphor may have been mixed, as iPhones make plenty of cash for Apple, whereas Tesla has never made an annual profit from its electric vehicles. But the implication was that automakers should stick to what they know, and they don't know smartphones. Forget any upcoming presidential debates, we're waiting for one between Marchionne and Tesla chief Elon Musk. As for the development of autonomous-driving features? Those are another story, says Marchionne, and an area where he's far more in line with Musk. That's because the technology required to make a car safely accelerate, brake, and steer on its own is far cheaper than making a car with an electric drivetrain that offers similar range and performance to a car with an internal combustion engine, he says. As opposed to electrification, Fiat Chrysler has been going the route of modifying conventional powertrains via wringing out more power out of progressively smaller engines, and mating them with eight- and nine-speed transmissions. As for EVs, credit Marchionne for his consistency. Fiat Chrysler has been selling the Fiat 500e since 2013. That year, Wards Auto named the 500e motor to its 10 Best Engines list, while the 500e won Road & Track's 2013 award for best electric car. Still, Marchionne has long said that Fiat only makes the vehicle for to satisfy zero-emissions vehicle mandates in California, and that the company loses as much as $10,000 for every 500e that it sells. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2014 Fiat 500e News Source: Car Magazine via Hybrid VehiclesImage Credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images Green Chrysler Fiat Electric Sergio Marchionne