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Strains between France and Italy risk Renault-FCA merger

PARIS/ROME — Fiat Chrysler's proposed $35 billion merger with Renault has cheered investors, won conditional support from Paris and Rome and even earned cautious backing from trade unions. Beneath this veneer, however, the bold attempt to create the world's third-largest carmaker risks becoming rapidly embroiled in the fraught relationship between France's europhile President Emmanuel Macron and Italy's euroskeptic leaders. For while Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini hailed the proposal as a "brilliant operation," Italy's creaking, state-subsidized Fiat factories are likely to bear the brunt of any production-related cost savings. FCA and Renault said this week that more than 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion) of annual savings would come mainly from combining platforms, consolidating powertrain and electrification investments and the benefits of increased scale. Salvini and France's Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who called the deal a "good opportunity" to build a European industrial champion able to compete with China and the United States, have both said they want guarantees on local jobs. "It's not every day that I agree with Salvini," said Le Maire, whose government appears to hold the trump cards. When it comes to where any job cuts fall, France will be helped by its existing 15 percent holding in Renault, whose superior efficiency at its five French plants makes it better placed to handle a supply glut, the demise of the petrol engine and the investments needed for electric and autonomous vehicles. "It will take many, many years to find real savings, and ugly political and operational realities can often swamp the potential of such new entities," Bernstein analyst Max Warburton said of the FCA-Renault plan to rival Japan's Toyota and Germany's Volkswagen. Advantage France? As well as Italy's government having to cope with the aftermath of European elections, which coincided with news of the FCA-Renault plans, political leaders in Rome were only informed shortly before the deal was made public, an FCA source said. This contrasted with the way the French government was treated, with Fiat Chrysler Chairman John Elkann, a fluent French speaker, letting it know of his merger proposal to Renault weeks ago, a French government official said.

Zombie cars roundup: Dodge has sold 3 new Vipers this year

Car models come and go, but as revealed by monthly sales data, once a car is discontinued, it doesn't just disappear instantly. And in the case of some models, vanishing into obscurity can be a slow, tedious process. That's the case with the 12 cars we have here. All of them have been discontinued, but car companies keep racking up "new" sales with them. There are actually more discontinued cars that are still registering new sales than what we decided to include here. We kept this list to the oldest or otherwise most interesting vehicles still being sold as new, including a supercar. We'll run the list in alphabetical order, starting with *drumroll* ... BMW 6 Series: 55 total sales BMW quietly removed the 6 Series from the U.S. market during the 2019 model year. It had been available in three configurations, a hardtop coupe, a convertible and a sleek four-door coupe-like shape.   BMW i8: 18 total sales We've always had a soft spot for the BMW i8, despite the fact that it never quite fit into a particular category. It was sporty, but nowhere near as fast as similarly-priced competitors. It looked very high-tech and boasted a unique carbon fiber chassis design and a plug-in hybrid powertrain, but wasn't really designed for maximum efficiency or maximum performance. Still, the in-betweener was very cool to look at and drive, and 18 buyers took one home over the course of 2021.   Chevy Impala: 750 total sales The Impala represented classic American tastes at a time when American tastes were shifting away from soft-riding sedans with big interior room and trunk space and into higher-riding crossovers. A total of 750 sales were inked last year.   Chrysler 200: 15 total sales The Chrysler 200 was actually a pretty nice sedan, with good looks and decent driving dynamics let down by a lack of roominess, particularly in the back seat. Of course, as we said regarding the Chevy Impala, the number of Americans in the market for sedans is rapidly winding down, and other automakers are following Chrysler's footsteps in canceling their slow-selling four-doors. Even if Chrysler never really found its footing in the ultra-competitive midsize sedan segment, apparently dealerships have a few leftover 2017 200s floating around. And for some reason, 15 buyers decided to sign the dotted line to take one of these aging sedans home last year.

Nissan bringing Qashqai, Rogue hybrid to US

Nissan will be expanding its crossover range here in the United States, introducing the popular European-market Qashqai, alongside a hybridized version of the Rogue. Nissan's Kyushu, Japan factory, meanwhile, will churn out 100,000 gas-powered Rogues to capitalize on hot demand here in the United States. The Kyushu move, at least, seems like a smart one, considering just how hot the compact Rogue is. "We haven't hit the ceiling [on Rogue] yet. We have more opportunity there if we can get our dealers more," Fred Diaz, Nissan's senior VP of sales and marketing, told Automotive News. Amping up production in Kyushu will finally mean the end of the first-generation Rogue, though, now known as the Rogue Select. Somehow, we doubt many tears will be shed. AN cites "two sources familiar with Nissan's future product" in its report on the Qashqai and Rogue Hybrid, although both moves are a bit strange at first glance. Both vehicles play in the same part of the market, and are both based on the Renault-Nissan Common Module Family platform. As for the Rogue Hybrid, well, we know what happened the last time Nissan tried to add an electric motor and battery pack to one of its crossovers. Plus, we've heard this rumor before. Nissan, though, seems to think both moves make a lot of sense. While the Qashqai and Rogue are closely related, the Euro-market model is smaller – 10 inches shorter and two inches narrower – making it less versatile, and it wears more handsome sheetmetal. Expect Nissan to field it as such, aiming at buyers that want a CUV for the lifestyle, rather than the versatility, Automotive News reports. There's a lot less information on the Rogue Hybrid, aside from AN reporting that it will hit the market next year. As for potential powertrains, mum's the word. The gas-powered Rogue uses a 2.5-liter four-cylinder, which is the same size as the gas-engine found in the dead-but-still-warm Pathfinder Hybrid. While we doubt it's as simple as a drag and drop, it seems like Nissan's most recent hybrid powertrain is the obvious choice for the upcoming Rogue. What do you think? Will the Qashqai be as big of a hit in the US as it is in Europe and Australia? Is a Rogue Hybrid such a smart move considering the tremendous failure of the Pathfinder Hybrid? Speak up in Comments. Related Video: