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Marchionne hopes Apple will partner with Fiat

Apple wants to make a car. Fiat already makes cars. Therefore, Apple and Fiat should partner to make an Apple Car. Makes sense, right? Clearly, it's not quite that easy, but FCA chief Sergio Marchionne hopes that Cupertino will consider Fiat a worthy candidate for partnership, assuming, of course, that Apple follows through with its overtures into the automobile industry. Marchionne is, according to Bloomberg, a self-proclaimed "Apple freak" who owns every kind of product Apple makes. He suggests that he understands the tech company's needs and wants. "Apple has a language, and you have to be able to speak that language," said Marchionne. "Usually the industry comes into that dialogue with a high degree of arrogance as we know how to make cars. That's not very helpful as their syntax is worth more than our ability to build cars." By "syntax," we assume Marchionne means Apple's sleek and modern design language more than the code behind its software. It's interesting to note that the FCA CEO seems to indicate that Apple would bring more to any partnership than the automaker would. Fair or not, we'd wager that more buyers would care about a potential Apple Car's design and branding than would be concerned with which automaker helped assembled it. A partnership with Apple may be exactly the kind of cure that the FCA CEO believes ails the auto industry. After finding it impossible to further pursue industry consolidation, a tie-up with the massive tech industry, particularly Apple, could generate some much-needed positive cash flow. At present, though, it's all just conjecture – Apple hasn't offered any hints as to the true nature of its so-called Project Titan automotive project, and doesn't seem likely to anytime soon. Related Video:

Fiat pondering swallowing rest of Chrysler, US IPO

At the moment, Fiat is in court with the United Auto Workers, waiting for the justice system to provide some guidance on a fair price for 41.5-percent of Chrysler it doesn't own. Fiat owns 58.5 percent of the company and wishes to buy the remainder, which is owned by the union's VEBA retiree trust, but the Italian company and the UAW are on different sides of the galaxy when it comes to assigning a fair price to that outstanding stake.
Naturally, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne is considering his options. A new report in the The Wall Street Journal says one of the scenarios being considered now is - depending on the outcome of the court case - to purchase the 41.5-percent stake and then issue an IPO to recoup some of the cost. About two months ago, Marchionne put the odds of an IPO for a wholly combined Fiat/Chrysler at 50 percent. Even with the WSJ report, it's not clear if those odds have changed.
The current company structure leaves a lot of options as to how a potential IPO could be issued, but it's said that Marchionne is against it, preferring "to be one company," under Fiat, indivisible. If Fiat is finally able to purchase all of the Pentastar, it would get access to Chrysler's war chest, pegged at $11.9 billion at the end of Q3 in 2012, and that money can't come soon enough for a brand taking a beating in Europe and delaying product over cash concerns.

Fiat 124, 500L dead for 2021; 500X gets $250 price hike

2020 is the final model year for the Fiat 124 Spider and the 500L, FCA announced Wednesday. The Miata-based roadster and family-ish hatchback will not return for 2021, slicing Fiat's U.S. portfolio to just a single model in one fell swoop.  "For the 2021 model year, the Fiat lineup will feature the Fiat 500X small crossover, which offers unique and functional Italian design, standard all-wheel-drive capability, 9-speed automatic transmission, 30 mpg highway and best-in-class 210 lb-ft of torque," Fiat said in its announcement. "The Fiat 124 Spider and the Fiat 500L will be discontinued after the 2020 model year." A joint-development project between Mazda and FCA, the reborn 124 Spider was originally supposed to be an Alfa Romeo. At what seemed like the last minute, labor issues and an Alfa product development shuffle shunted the project to Fiat. The final product was an interesting blend of Italian and Japanese style and engineering. The engine and exterior design were provided by Fiat; the platform, transmission and interior all came from Mazda. The result was a slightly heavier and more powerful roadster than the Miata on which it was based. As an added bonus, the enthusiast-friendly Abarth model, with the same upgrades Mazda offered on the MX-5 Club, was cheaper trim-for-trim, especially after Fiat's far more generous discounts. Since then, the 124's advantages have been somewhat overshadowed by improvements to the Miata, which got a more potent engine for the 2019 model year.  On the other hand, we wouldn't blame you if you'd forgotten that the 500L was still in production at all. Apart from a core group of loyal buyers, the frumpy hatchback never really caught on in the United States.  Fiat also announced several trim updates and some pricing changes for its sole remaining model. The base 500X gets a $250 price hike (up to $26,335 after a $1,495 destination charge), and Fiat is introducing new packages for the Sport model to give potential customers more flexibility.  The Fiat's platform-mate, the Jeep Renegade, remains cheaper, but its standard engine is the naturally aspirated 2.4-liter Tigershark"4-cylinder, while the 1.3-liter turbocharged engine is a $1,495 upgrade.