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Marchionne backs off merger plans, could retire after 2018

FCA boss Sergio Marchionne is stepping back from plans to attempt a major auto industry merger like the oft-speculated deal with General Motors last year. According to Bloomberg, Marchionne now wants to grow his automaker through 2018, and then the 63-year-old could retire around the end of that year. Marchionne claims he received merger proposals last year, but he couldn't find an attractive enough partnership. "We went back to concentrate on the 2018 plan which would boost Fiat Chrysler's value and its position in a deal," he said to Bloomberg. He still believes that a big merger is possible, but "it will be someone else's duty," he said after previously hinting about possibly staying at FCA until 2020. Marchionne was clear that any chance for the GM merger was likely over. "I met Mary Barra less than a month ago in Washington," he told Bloomberg. "I don't think I will have another coffee with her. It won't happen again in the future." Now, the boss intends to spend the rest of his time at FCA building the automaker through its five-year plan, and his goal is to grow global deliveries to seven million units a year by 2018. To make that happen, the automaker will invest around $52 billion over that time to improve its brands' product slate. Marchionne began backtracking from the possible GM merger late in 2015 after it became clear that The General's board wasn't interested. Earlier in the year, he seemed more aggressive about the prospect by suggesting a hostile takeover with a bizarre metaphor about giving the company a hug. Related Video: News Source: BloombergImage Credit: Richard Drew / AP Photo Chrysler Fiat GM Sergio Marchionne FCA fca us

Stellantis announces ‘Circular Economy’ business to drive revenue, decarbonization

Stellantis has already announced its plans to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2038. Today, the automaker has announced a new business unit to help it reach that goal while generating 2 billion euros per year in revenue by 2030. The “Circular Economy” business will help make revenue less dependent on finite, rare and ecologically problematic materials. The Circular Economy model features what Stellantis calls a “4R” strategy, comprising remanufacturing, repair, reuse and recycling. The goal is to make materials last as long as they can, reducing reliance on the acquisition of those precious new materials in the future by returning them to the business loop when theyÂ’ve reached the end of their first life. Through these processes, Stellantis says it can save up to 80% raw material and 50% energy compared to manufacturing a new part. Remanufacturing, or “reman” in Stellantis shorthand, means dismantling, cleaning and rebuilding parts to OEM spec. Nearly 12,000 remanufactured parts are available for customers to purchase. Some remanufacturing is done in-house, and some with partners and through joint ventures. Repair is pretty obvious — fixing parts to put back into vehicles. This also consists of reconditioning, to make a vehicle feel like new. Stellantis boasts 21 “e-repair” centers for repairing electric vehicle batteries.  Reuse refers to parts still in good condition from end-of-life vehicles sold as-is. Stellantis says it has 4.5 million multi-brand parts in inventory. These are sold in 155 countries through the B-Parts e-commerce platform. Reuse also refers second-life options, such as using batteries outside of automotive purposes. Recycling involves dismantling parts and scraps back into raw material form that is then looped back into the manufacturing process. Stellantis says it has collected 1 million parts for recycling in the past six months. Recycling doesnÂ’t get counted in that aforementioned 2 billion euros of revenue, but it does save the company money on acquisition of raw materials. As for batteries, specifically, Stellantis expects this recycling business to ramp up after 2030, when the packs currently in service begin to reach the end of their lifecycle. Stellantis will use its new “SUSTAINera” label to denote parts that are offered as part of its Circular Economy business.

Chrysler and Hyundai join Pepsi and Coke as top Super Bowl spenders [w/ video]

Super Bowl XLVIII is barely a week away, and some of the early ads are already leaking out. It's timely then that The Street has released rankings of the top five Super Bowl advertisers since 2009, showing Chrysler and Hyundai/Kia taking two of the spots with $131.7 million in cumulative spending.
Since 2010, the cost to air a 30-second Super Bowl ad has risen from $3 million in 2009 to about $4 million in 2014, and about a fifth of advertisers opt for a one-minute ad, which doubles costs. Last year, the ads brought in $292 million, and they have brought in roughly $2 billion since 2010.
Chrysler has spent $64.3 million since 2009 to make it the fourth highest spending company in the last five years. In that time, the company has rebranded itself as it emerged from bankruptcy with the Imported from Detroit ad campaign that premiered in 2011 and last year's God Made a Farmer Ram Trucks ad. Its 2012 Halftime in America sparked national debate about whether it was also a reference to the upcoming presidential election.