1980 Fiat 124 Spider on 2040-cars

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Ram 700 by Fiat may be the small truck we've been waiting for

It seems like auto buyers throughout the whole world outside of the United States and Canada have a plethora of small pickups to choose from to fit their needs. In fact, there's one just south of the border that might be perfect for many American consumers - the 2015 Ram 700.
The little, front-wheel-drive pickup is a badge-engineered version of the Fiat Strada, which is also sold in Mexico. The powertrain is limited to a 1.6-liter four-cylinder making 115 horsepower and 119 pound-feet of torque with a five-speed manual gearbox. However, buyers can choose between either a two-door, two-passenger body or a three-door, four-person version (pictured above and right) that's also available with a locking front differential. While the 700 isn't big, the two-door version still offers a cargo capacity of up to 1,554 pounds, and opting for the three-door still allows for 1,433 pounds of goods.
Prices for these little trucks aren't bad either. The two-door is priced at 182,900 Mexican pesos ($13,576 at current rates), while 241,900 pesos ($17,955) gets customers the three-door.

UAW may be key to forced FCA merger with GM

Sergio Marchionne doesn't give up on a business deal easily. While outwardly not much has recently been said about FCA's attempted merger with General Motors, Marchionne might be hoping to garner a powerful, new ally that could help break things wide open. The United Auto Workers retiree health care trust is the single largest shareholder of GM with 8.7 percent of the stock, and having its support would certainly improve FCA's position in getting a deal done. "Whatever happens in terms of consolidation, it would never be done without the consent and support of the UAW," Marchionne said when FCA recently began contract talks with the UAW, The Detroit News reports. The boss is also allegedly on good terms with the union president Dennis Williams. Still, using the organization for a hostile takeover could be very difficult because of the way its votes are structured. Other activist investors might already be on board, though. Marchionne believes that consolidation in the industry is vital because automakers are investing to create the same technologies. A GM/FCA merger still has many roadblocks, though, including the fact that Marchionne's company is smaller than GM. From a regulatory perspective, the size of the merged company could raise serious anti-trust concerns among regulators, according to The Detroit News. There's also the concern for lost jobs from redundant work with the two combined businesses. Even if the UAW angle doesn't work out, there are contingency plans afoot for other merger targets. According to The Detroit News speaking to anonymous insiders, FCA bigwigs have a meeting in London on Thursday to take a close look at other options. In addition to GM, they are investigating possible deals with Volkswagen and the Renault-Nissan Alliance. In the past, PSA Peugeot Citroen and multiple Asian automakers have also been brought up as partners, and UBS has reportedly been providing financial advice on what to do.

Fiat Chrysler UAW corruption had roots in federal bailout of Chrysler

The Detroit News continues its dogged coverage of the federal investigation into corruption at the United Auto Workers union and Fiat Chrysler in a lengthy in-depth report that ties the investigation together with Chrysler’s emergence from bankruptcy protection in 2009, a hefty federal bailout and former CEO Sergio MarchionneÂ’s push to force a merger with crosstown rival General Motors. ItÂ’s a staggering look at the brazen illegal payoffs, kickbacks and embezzlement in the top ranks of both Fiat Chrysler and the UAW, an investigation which has so far resulted in 11 criminal convictions — three of them former FCA employees, the rest former UAW leaders — with at least seven others implicated in wrongdoing to date, including former UAW President Gary Jones, who recently resigned. Prosecutors allege all of it was fueled by $12.5 billion in taxpayer-funded bailout funds within days of Chrysler LLCÂ’s emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2009. The News reports that former FCA Vice President Alphons Iacobelli, then its top labor negotiator, admitted to opening the spigot that same month. HeÂ’s now serving 66 months in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney Office in Detroit. All told, Iacobelli and FCA made more than $9 million in illegal payments over eight years to the UAW to cover salaries and benefits, many of them for "no-show" jobs at the joint UAW-FCA training center in Detroit, which is being dissolved. WhatÂ’s more, prosecutors say that Iacobelli answered on UAW matters solely to Marchionne, who died in a Swiss hospital in 2018. Marchionne was never charged with any wrongdoing, even though investigators reportedly caught him lying about providing gifts to UAW leaders during a meeting at the U.S. AttorneyÂ’s Office in Detroit in 2016. The story also details how prosecutors believe he tried to buy the support of UAW leaders for his repeated bids to get GM to agree to a merger, despite widespread belief that such a move would have led to massive job cuts and plant closures, given the two automakersÂ’ many overlapping products. The whole Detroit News story is highly worth a read. Find it here. Read This UAW/Unions Chrysler Fiat GM Sergio Marchionne FCA