2014 Fiat 500l Trekking on 2040-cars

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The next steps automakers could take after sales drop again in April

DETROIT (Reuters) - Major automakers on Tuesday posted declines in U.S. new vehicle sales for April in a sign the long boom cycle that lifted the American auto industry to record sales last year is losing steam, sending carmaker stocks down. The drop in sales versus April 2016 came on the heels of a disappointing March, which automakers had shrugged off as just a bad month. But two straight weak months has heightened Wall Street worries the cyclical industry is on a downward swing after a nearly uninterrupted boom since the Great Recession's end in 2010. Auto sales were a drag on U.S. first-quarter gross domestic product, with the economy growing at an annual rate of just 0.7 percent according to an advance estimate published by the Commerce Department last Friday. Excluding the auto sector the GDP growth rate would have been 1.2 percent. Industry consultant Autodata put the industry's seasonally adjusted annualized rate of sales at 16.88 million units for April, below the average of 17.2 million units predicted by analysts polled by Reuters. General Motors Co shares fell 2.9 percent while Ford Motor Co slid 4.3 percent and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's U.S.-traded shares tumbled 4.2 percent. The U.S. auto industry faces multiple challenges. Sales are slipping and vehicle inventory levels have risen even as carmakers have hiked discounts to lure customers. A flood of used vehicles from the boom cycle are increasingly competing with new cars. The question for automakers: How much and for how long to curtail production this summer, which will result in worker layoffs? To bring down stocks of unsold vehicles, the Detroit automakers need to cut production, and offer more discounts without creating "an incentives war," said Mark Wakefield, head of the North American automotive practice for AlixPartners in Southfield, Michigan. "We see multiple weeks (of production) being taken out on the car side," he said, "and some softness on the truck side." Rival automakers will be watching each other to see if one is cutting prices to gain market share from another, he said, instead of just clearing inventory. INVESTORS DIGEST BAD NEWS Just last week GM reported a record first-quarter profit, but that had almost zero impact on the automaker's stock. The iconic carmaker, whose own interest was once conflated with that of America's, has slipped behind luxury carmaker Tesla Inc in terms of valuation.

The Fiat 500X packs 2.4 liters of disappointment

Our long-term 2016 Fiat 500X is a fine little crossover that's nearly undone by a underwhelming and often frustrating powertrain. The 2.4-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder/nine-speed automatic combo can be found in a number of FCA products. In every single application I've used this engine, the takeaway has been the same: It's a boat anchor. I like our 500X, I really do. I haven't spent as much time behind the wheel as I would like, but I've put thousands of miles on its platform twin, the Jeep Renegade, and two vehicles are essentially the same underneath. The Tigershark 2.4-liter makes 180 horsepower and 175 lb-ft of torque, good numbers on paper, but in practice the engine is buzzy and slow to rev. The engine feels dated. In contrast, the base 1.4-liter turbocharged engine feels much more lively despite being down 20 horsepower. The low-end grunt is owed to the 9 additional pound-feet of torque the engine makes over the 2.4-liter. It may not match it on the top end, but not many people are running a 500X to redline. The issue I have is that the 2.4-liter is the only available option on the higher-spec models like our Trekking Plus, so if you want some options you're stuck with this engine. The 2.4-liter is exclusively paired to a 9-speed automatic transmission that's built by ZF. As great as some of ZF's other gearboxes are, this 9-speed is varying degrees of bad in every application that I've used it, including the Honda Pilot, Acura TLX, and Jeep Cherokee and Renegade. Shifts can be abrupt, and the manic transmission is constantly hunting in an effort to find the most fuel-efficient gear. More than once I've been left waiting for a kick down in order to move with some gusto. Don't let my harping about the powertrain warp your vision of the 500X. It's a fun little vehicle and arguably Fiat's best product (the 124 Spider is mostly Mazda), but it's frustrating when a pleasant little crossover is brought down by such a lackluster powertrain, made worse by knowing the 1.4-liter is so much better. There's an easy fix, Fiat: Offer the 1.4-liter in all engine trims. And to be fair, it's almost kind of fun around a racetrack. See the video below. Related Video:

Montezemolo steps down, Marchionne steps up as chairman of Ferrari

If the history of an automaker is divided up by the mandate of its leadership, then this is surely the end of an era for Ferrari. After repeatedly locking horns with Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne over a variety of issues, longtime Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo has announced his resignation.
Montezemolo has a long history with both Fiat and Ferrari. He started his career at the former before moving over to the latter in 1973 (only a few years Fiat took over half of Ferrari), starting out as Enzo Ferrari's assistant. He was appointed head of the Scuderia the following year, driving the team to success and subsequently taking over all of the Fiat group's racing activities. After the Prancing Horse marque struggled in the wake of its founder's death in 1988, Montezemolo was appointed to take it over in '91 and has been at the helm ever since.
Following Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli's passing in 2003, both Montezemolo and Marchionne were named to the Fiat board. A year later, after the passing of Gianni's younger brother Umberto, Montezemolo was named chairman of the Fiat Group (to be succeeded six years later by Agnelli heir John Elkann) and Marchionne its chief executive.