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Fiat Chrysler seeks $6.8 billion state-backed loan in Italy

MILAN — Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Saturday that Fiat Chrysler was entitled to apply for Italy's state-backed loans because the automaker employs thousands of people in the country, even though its legal base is located abroad. The Italian-American group confirmed on Saturday its Italian unit was working with Rome to obtain state guarantees on a 6.3-billion-euro ($6.8 billion) loan facility designed to help Italy's automotive industry, comprised of approximately 10,000 small and medium-size businesses. The coronavirus outbreak, which has hit Italy especially hard, slammed the brakes on demand for new vehicles and forced automakers to halt most production, burning cash. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said in a statement that talks were ongoing with lender Intesa Sanpaolo for a three-year credit facility exclusively dedicated to the group's activities in Italy. Asked whether FCA, which has its legal headquarters in the Netherlands, could get a loan guaranteed by the Italian government, Conte said the group qualified. "We're not talking about the parent company, we're talking about the group's companies in Italy, which employ thousands of people," the prime minister said. FCA runs several plants and research and development centers in Italy, directly employing around 55,000 people. In addition, over 200,000 people work in Italy's 5,500 parts suppliers and 120,000 people in car dealers and service companies, with the automotive industry accounting for 6.2% of Italy's domestic product, FCA said. News that FCA was asking the Italian government for liquidity support had raised criticism. The ruling party PD's deputy president, Andrea Orlando, earlier on Saturday said on Twitter that if a company asked the Italian government for sizable financing, it had to bring back its legal base to Italy. The scheme is part of emergency measures the Italian government is making available to the country's businesses. It offers more than 400 billion euros' worth of liquidity and bank loans to companies hit by the pandemic. FCA said the state-backed credit facility it is seeking will have "the sole purpose of providing operational support for payments to Italian suppliers to support their liquidity and, at the same, supporting the restart of production and investment at Italian plants." The group has gradually restarted operations in Italy since the end of April. Related Video: Earnings/Financials Government/Legal Chrysler Fiat coronavirus

Fiat Chrysler chief still says EVs can't make money

Add Sergio Marchionne's insistence that it's impossible to make money on electric vehicle production to death and taxes among things we can all count on. The Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO, speaking in an interview with UK's Car Magazine, implied that Tesla Motors was "the iPhone of cars." The metaphor may have been mixed, as iPhones make plenty of cash for Apple, whereas Tesla has never made an annual profit from its electric vehicles. But the implication was that automakers should stick to what they know, and they don't know smartphones. Forget any upcoming presidential debates, we're waiting for one between Marchionne and Tesla chief Elon Musk. As for the development of autonomous-driving features? Those are another story, says Marchionne, and an area where he's far more in line with Musk. That's because the technology required to make a car safely accelerate, brake, and steer on its own is far cheaper than making a car with an electric drivetrain that offers similar range and performance to a car with an internal combustion engine, he says. As opposed to electrification, Fiat Chrysler has been going the route of modifying conventional powertrains via wringing out more power out of progressively smaller engines, and mating them with eight- and nine-speed transmissions. As for EVs, credit Marchionne for his consistency. Fiat Chrysler has been selling the Fiat 500e since 2013. That year, Wards Auto named the 500e motor to its 10 Best Engines list, while the 500e won Road & Track's 2013 award for best electric car. Still, Marchionne has long said that Fiat only makes the vehicle for to satisfy zero-emissions vehicle mandates in California, and that the company loses as much as $10,000 for every 500e that it sells. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2014 Fiat 500e News Source: Car Magazine via Hybrid VehiclesImage Credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images Green Chrysler Fiat Electric Sergio Marchionne

GM, Ford, FCA and the UAW form joint coronavirus task force

General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler are forming a coronavirus task force along with the United Auto Workers union to improve protections for their employees and limit the spread of the highly contagious virus. The task force, which would be focusing on areas including vehicle production plans, is being headed by UAW President Rory Gamble, GM Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra, Ford CEO Jim Hackett, Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford and FCA CEO Michael Manley, the parties said in a joint statement on Sunday. Though automakers typically schedule plant staffing to allow for a certain proportion of absent workers, according to industry consultants, if the outbreak causes higher levels due to infection or workers staying home to care for children whose schools are closed, that could lead to reduced production or in extreme cases shutdowns. Production at an FCA assembly plant in Canada was halted for 24 hours after employees there refused to work on Thursday over fears of an employee being possibly exposed to the coronavirus. Separately on Thursday, the Italian-American automaker said that one of its employees had tested positive for COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, at its transmission plant in Indiana. The plant, however, remained open. "This is a fluid and unprecedented situation, and the task force will move quickly to build on the wide-ranging preventive measures we have put in place," the CEOs of the three companies said in the statement. The task force would also be focusing on aspects such as health and safety education, health screening, food service at the automakers' locations. Related Video: Government/Legal Plants/Manufacturing UAW/Unions Chrysler Fiat Ford GM coronavirus