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Fiat/PSA's dominance in small vans hangs up EU's merger approval

BRUSSELS — EU antitrust regulators are concerned about Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot / PSA's combined high market share in small vans and may require concessions to clear their $50 billion merger, people familiar with the matter said. The companies, which are seeking to create the world's fourth biggest carmaker, were told of the European Commission's concerns last week. If Fiat and PSA fail to dispel the European Commission's doubts in the next two days and subsequently decline to offer concessions by Wednesday, the deadline for doing so, the deal would face a four-month-long investigation. The EU competition enforcer, which has set a June 17 deadline for its preliminary review, declined to comment. Fiat was not immediately available for comment while PSA had no immediate comment. Hiving off overlapping businesses, usually a regulatory demand to ensure more competition, could prove tricky for the carmakers because of the technicalities. Fiat and PSA are looking to merge to help offset slowing demand and shoulder the cost of making cleaner vehicles to meet tougher emissions regulations. The deal puts under one roof the Italian carmaker's brands such as Fiat, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Maserati and the French company's Peugeot, Opel and DS. Related Video: Government/Legal Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep Maserati RAM Citroen Opel Peugeot

Weekly Recap: GM scales back as Russian auto market teeters

General Motors' extensive plans to scale back its Russian operations are the latest sign the automotive market in the former superpower is collapsing – and there are few signs of recovery. GM said Wednesday it will stop selling mainstream Chevrolets and shutter the entire Opel brand in Russia. The moves leave GM with a luxury-focused presence consisting of Cadillac and Chevrolet's Corvette, Camaro and Tahoe. The cutbacks will be completed by the end of the year. The automaker will also idle its factory in St. Petersburg and end a contract-assembly agreement with Russian manufacturer GAZ. "We had to take decisive action in Russia to protect our business," Opel Group CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann said in a statement. "We confirm our outlook to return the European business to profitability in 2016 and stick to our long-term goals." GM is the latest automaker to scale back in Russia as the economic conditions, volatile currency and uncertainty over the conflict in the Ukraine all have sandbagged new car sales. Last month, vehicle sales collapsed 38 percent in Russia to 128,298 units, according to the Association of European Business, which records sales. Joerg Schreiber, chairman of the AEB automobile manufacturers committee, didn't even feign optimism in a statement announcing the figures. "The market is entering a very difficult phase now, and February is only the beginning," he said. "Industry sentiment is the next few months will be extremely difficult and the market bottom has yet to be found." The dovetails with industry experts, who predict the Russian auto sector will remain in the doldrums. IHS said earlier this year it expects Russia's sales to slip to just 1.8 million units in 2015, which is a 40-percent drop from 2012. Other News & Notes Chief leads Jeep's Easter Safari stable Jeep is bringing seven attention-getting concepts to Moab for its annual Easter Safari off-roading celebration in Utah, but the Chief is perhaps the standout of the group. It salutes the 1970s Cherokee with a throwback appearance and surfer styling cues. The Chief has a custom modified razor grille made famous by the Wagoneer, and it rolls on 17-inch slotted mag wheels. The surf theme comes in with ocean blue paint, floral cloth and leather seats and a tiki-style shifter handle. Based on the Jeep Wrangler, the Chief has removable sides, a 3.6-liter V6 engine and a six-speed manual gearbox.

Jeep Wrangler pickup expected to hit dealer showrooms April 2019

Automotive News, after speaking with Fiat- Chrysler dealers after the one of the carmaker's meetings last week, found out the coming Jeep Wrangler pickup should hit dealers in April 2019. The dealers said that was the only new bit of information in the hour-long confab. We know Wrangler pickup production begins in the fourth quarter of this year, but we don't know when we'll get our first look at the bedded Jeep. With fully-camoed prototypes still roaming the streets less eight weeks ago, a public introduction could wait until this year's LA Auto Show, one year after the standard Wrangler broke cover and in the same place. Nor do we know exactly what we'll be seeing yet, and that goes for the name, too; Jeep has kept an admirably tight lid on leaks. Based on all of the spy shots so far, we're looking at a four-door Unlimited with a short bed. Previous speculation about a two-door Wrangler pickup appears to have gotten no further than speculation, at least for now. It's easy to assume that the Jeep utility vehicle will come with the same three engine choices as the rest of the lineup - the 268-horsepower, 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder, the 285-hp 3.6-liter Pentastar V6, and the 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V6 with 442 pound-feet of torque. Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said he expects to see 100,000 Wrangler pickups sold each year, which is about 56 percent of the Wrangler's current U.S. and European volume, so it makes sense to put everything on the menu. Jeep made the Comanche pickup until 1992, but that was based on the Cherokee; the last Wrangler pickup was the 1986 CJ-8 Scrambler. Come April 2019, the cargo-centric Wrangler will enter a growing segment already humming with the Chevrolet Colorado, Toyota Tacoma, Honda Ridgeline, and Nissan Frontier, and awaiting the much anticipated Ford Ranger and brand new Frontier. The Wrangler would be the only member of the club to offer a convertible top, though. People are still keeping an eye on Ram, too. It wasn't so long ago that Marchionne said "Ram needs to be in that space." Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Featured Gallery 2019 Jeep Scrambler Spy Shots View 21 Photos News Source: Automotive News - sub req'd via Carscoops Auto News Jeep Truck SUV Future Vehicles Off-Road Vehicles jeep wrangler pickup jeep scrambler