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Ferrari to be spun off from Fiat Chrysler

The recently merged Fiat Chrysler Automobiles empire has ambitious plans for growth, and it's going to need some big bucks in its coffers in order to enact them. Part of that cash injection is coming from the floating of its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, but now FCA has announced a further capital campaign to be based on the enormous asset that is Ferrari.
FCA's board of directors has just approved the separation of Ferrari from the rest of the group as a separate entity. Once that separation is complete, Ferrari will put 10 percent of its shares on the stock market "in the United States and possibly a European exchange" as well.
This isn't the first time that the idea of a Ferrari IPO has been raised. Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of Chrysler, Fiat and Ferrari (pictured above), first raised the idea four years ago. Former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo nixed the idea, but now that he's been discharged, it appears there's nothing to get in the way of Marchionne's desires.

Watch as U.S. auto industry springs back to life after lockdown

WARREN, Michigan — The Detroit Three automakers and their suppliers began restarting assembly lines on Monday after a two-month coronavirus lockdown in a slow revival of a sector that employs nearly 1 million people in the United States. On a chilly and damp Monday morning, hundreds of workers at Fiat Chrysler Automobile's (FCA) truck plant in Warren, Michigan, began lining up before 4 a.m. to start the 5 a.m. shift. Signs overhead read: "Let's restart." "I'm a little nervous," said Larry Smith, 53, of New Baltimore, who works on wheel alignment away from the assembly line. "They made all the precautions (and) they've done everything they can to prepare us ... I'm trusting in God." Detroit automakers on Monday said there were no issues with absenteeism as the plants opened. FCA reopened four U.S. assembly plants on Monday, including Warren Truck, on a single shift, as well as four parts plants. The reopening of car plants will be a closely watched test of whether workers across a range of U.S. industries can return to factories in large numbers without a resurgence of infections. General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co and FCA have all been preparing for weeks to reopen their North American factories in a push to restart work in an industry that accounts for about 6% of U.S. economic activity. Investors welcomed the gradual restart, sending GM's shares up more than 9% on Monday. FCA shares rose 7.3%, while Ford's were up 6.7%. Auto companies have redesigned assembly lines and retrained workers in an effort to avoid coronavirus outbreaks that could derail production again. Workers entering factories on Monday were checked by temperature monitors. Face masks or shields are standard protective equipment. Jobs such as installing seat belts that used to require two or more workers to get close together inside a vehicle have been redesigned to keep people a safe distance apart. Plastic screens have been installed along assembly lines to separate workers leaning in to the engine compartments of vehicles. Break areas have been reconfigured to keep workers six feet apart. The Detroit automakers have collaborated with each other and with the United Auto Workers to develop common coronavirus safety practices. Other automakers in the United States are adopting similar safety measures.

2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Long-Term Update | Recall!

Our long-term 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid has been in the fleet for about six months now and is quickly accumulating more miles than most of our long-term vehicles do in a full year. Thanks to a couple of recent road trips, one to New England and one to Florida, our Ocean Blue Metallic minivan has racked up about 15,000 miles. I personally hope we can cross the 25,000-mile mark before we're finished. The Pacifica Hybrid has garnered near universal praise from the Autoblog staff, especially those of us who have kids or pets. While it's mostly been hiccup free, one recall had us a bit on edge. NHTSA campaign number 18V740000 was issued last fall, but we didn't get the notification until early this year. Blame the delay on the weird ownership situation of long-term vehicles. NHTSA's basic description is short. "After the vehicle has been operating in PHEV propulsion mode, the gas-fueled engine may not restart properly resulting in unburned fuel entering the exhaust catalyst." Basically, the engine may not restart correctly after running in EV mode, and the fuel being fed to the engine could make its way past the exhaust manifold to the catalytic converters and ignite, possibly starting a fire. Obviously, that's bad. We scheduled a visit to the dealer as soon as we got the news. Chrysler's fix is to update the computer, visually inspect the cats and replace them if needed. We hadn't noticed any issues with the Pacifica's powertrain, and the inspection came back clean, so our Pacifica was back in our hands in a few hours. The service sheet says the left and right cats were inspected by borescope and the powertrain control module was updated. All in, the Pacifica was out of our hands for about half a day. Related Video: