2007 Ram 3500 on 2040-cars

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Stellantis is official: FCA and PSA merger finally sealed

MILAN — Fiat Chrysler and PSA sealed their long-awaited merger on Saturday to create Stellantis, the world's fourth-largest auto group with deep enough pockets to fund the shift to electric driving and take on bigger rivals Toyota and Volkswagen. It took over a year for the Italian-American and French automakers to finalize the $52 billion deal, during which the global economy was upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. They first announced plans to merge in October 2019, to create a group with annual sales of around 8.1 million vehicles. "The merger between Peugeot S.A. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. that will lead the path to the creation of Stellantis N.V. became effective today," the two automakers said in a statement. Shares in Stellantis, which will be headed by current PSA Chief Executive Carlos Tavares, will start trading in Milan and Paris on Monday, and in New York on Tuesday. Now analysts and investors are turning their focus to how Tavares plans to address the huge challenges facing the group – from excess production capacity to a woeful performance in China. Tavares will hold his first press conference as Stellantis CEO on Tuesday, after ringing NYSE's bell with Chairman John Elkann. FCA and PSA have said Stellantis can cut annual costs by over 5 billion euros ($6.1 billion) without plant closures, and investors will be keen for more details on how it will do this. Marco Santino, a partner at consultants Oliver Wyman, said he expected Tavares to disclose the outlines of his action plan soon, but without divulging too many details at first. "He has proven to be the kind of person who prefers action to words, so I don't think he will make loud statements or try to over-sell targets," he said. Like all global automakers, Stellantis needs to invest billions in the years ahead to transform its vehicle range for the electric era. But other pressing tasks loom, including reviving the group's lagging fortunes in China, rationalizing its huge global empire and addressing massive overcapacity. "It will be a step by step process, also to allow the market to better appreciate every single move. I don't think we will have all the details before one year," Santino said.

Follow along for the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon live reveal

Updates: Live Demon premiere in Times Square and a viewing party on Woodward Ave. here in Detroit. The first Hellcat sold for about $800k at a Barrett-Jackson auction. New Pennzoil video with the last Dodge Viper premiering tomorrow. "Making the suits nervous is how we know we're on the right track." No love for accountants. "A modern day version of the Ramchargers." "The harder car companies work to take the driver out of the equation, the harder we work to keep them in." "We want to impress the NHRA more than the PTA." "It would have been easy to take a Hellcat and make it a bit faster." SRT says tuners have it all wrong. This is the way to build a performance drag car. Every Demon comes with a leather-bound manual that shows how to properly set up the car for tracks. 2.3 seconds to 60 mph 9.65 second 1/4 mile 840 horsepower This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Original Post: The 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon is coming tonight, and we'll be bringing you live coverage and updates from New York. There have been months of teasers, trailers, and hints, but some of the big questions have yet to be answered. Dodge is showing the reveal live on the Demon's promo site, ifyouknowyouknow.com. Watch the stream and follow along here for the latest Demon info. The hype started back in January with the first video, "Cage." At the time, all we knew was that the Demon was going to be a hopped-up version of the already juiced up Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. After that, we learned that the Demon would be significantly lighter thanks to optional - yes, optional - passenger and rear seats. In addition to the seats, the Demon comes with lightweight wheels wrapped in sticky 315/40R18 Nitto drag radials at all four corners. Dodge showed off the Demon's crate of goodies, but it was a few more weeks before we learned what was inside. The Demon comes with a jack, an electric impact wrench, torque wrench, and a tire pressure gauge. The kit will be used to swap skinny front tires for use on a drag strip. As cool as those 315 section tires look up front, they hurt far more than they help on a drag strip.

Stellantis won't race to split electric vehicles from fossil fuel cars

MILAN - Stellantis is not considering splitting its electric vehicle (EV) business from its legacy combustion engine operation, its finance chief said on Thursday, as the carmaker presented above-expectation revenue data for the first quarter. Chief Financial Officer Richard Palmer told analysts he did not see huge benefits in the kind of separations pursued by rivals such as France's Renault and U.S. Ford. "We need to manage the company and the assets we have through this transition," he said. "There are benefits to having the cash flow being generated by the internal combustion business for the investments we need to make." Palmer said the group, formed by a merger last year of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA, was not averse to considering adjusting its structure "but we aren't anticipating any big changes." Palmer's comments came after the world's fourth largest carmaker said its net revenue rose 12% to 41.5 billion euros ($44.1 billion) in the January-March period, as strong pricing and the type of vehicles sold helped offset the impact of the semiconductor shortage on volumes. That topped analyst expectations of 36.9 billion euros, according to a Reuters poll. Milan-listed shares were up 0.5% by 1415 GMT, in line with Italy's blue-chip index. The impact of the chip crunch was evident in the decline in shipment figures which fell 12% in the quarter to 1.374 million vehicles. It was a similar story for Germany's BMW which posted higher revenues on Thursday and a decline in car sales. Riding the Recovery Stellantis, whose brands also include Citroen, Jeep and Maserati, confirmed its 2022 forecasts for a double-digit adjusted operating income margin, after 11.8% last year, and a positive cash-flow despite supply and inflationary headwinds. Morgan Stanley analysts said after the results that Stellantis had better management than many peers and benefited from its significant exposure to a stronger U.S. economy and a European recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. They also said it was less affected by a slowing Chinese economy. Palmer said it was important for the group to maintain double-digit margins and keep delivering positive cash flows. "A 12% increase in revenue with a 12% decrease in volumes indicates a very strong performance on price and mix, which augurs well for our margin performance," he said. He said semiconductor supply problems were expected to ease this year with continued improvements in 2023.