2013 Fiat Pop on 2040-cars

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To grease the skids for Stellantis, PSA offers to boost Toyota's fortunes

BRUSSELS/MILAN — Peugeot maker PSA has offered to boost Japanese rival Toyota to try to address EU antitrust concerns about its plan to create the world's fourth-biggest carmaker, to be called Stellantis, by merging with Fiat Chrysler, people familiar with the matter said on Friday. PSA has offered to increase the production capacity for Toyota in their van joint venture, one of the sources said. Another source said the French company would sell the vans at close to cost. PSA makes vans for Toyota in its Sevelnord plant in northern France. The van collaboration started in 2012. PSA submitted its offer to the European Commission earlier on Friday, three months after the EU enforcer opened a full-scale investigation into the deal with FCA on concerns that it would hurt competition in small vans in 14 EU countries and Britain. "As of now, the transaction has obtained merger clearance in 14 jurisdictions. As previously stated, closing of the transaction is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2021," PSA and FCA said in a joint statement. The Commission, which temporarily halted its investigation into the deal in July while waiting for the companies to provide requested data, did not set a deadline for its decision. "The deadline is still suspended. This procedure in merger investigations is activated if the parties fail to provide, in a timely fashion, an important piece of information that the Commission has requested from them," the EU executive said. It is now expected to seek feedback from customers and rivals before deciding whether to demand more concessions, or either clear or block the deal. Government/Legal Chrysler Fiat Peugeot Stellantis

It turns out the Fiat 500X isn't a track car

Our long-term Fiat 500X has been a trusty sidekick for road trips, errands, and all the other tasks you normally throw at a baby crossover. But our exhaustive testing does not stop there. On a recent trip to GingerMan Raceway (where we tracked the BMW M2, Ford Focus RS, and our long-term Mazda Miata) the little green Fiat came along on camera-lugging duty. And then Mike and I got in and took it for a hot lap. Though this may seem crazy on the surface, let me try and defend myself. The mode switch on the 500X's center console has a little graphic of the crossover next to a waving checkered flag to signify Sport mode. That was really all the indication I needed to confirm the vehicle's true intentions. So we switched it to track attack, did a brake-torqued launch, and went hunting for apexes. As you'll see in the video above, the baby Fiat ute was actually kind of entertaining on the track. Its torquey 2.4-liter engine engine is fun enough to work, and the nine-speed auto shifted relatively quickly (when I remembered to request shifts). We (okay, I) sort of forgot the last rule of hot-lap club. Wait for the end to find out what I mean. So no, we didn't set any lap records. Except we probably set the track record for a 500X, because I can't imagine anyone else is going to take theirs to GingerMan any time soon. But please, prove me wrong. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Fiat Long-Term Garage Crossover Performance Videos Original Video fiat 500x

Fiat Chrysler and PSA boards sign off on merger

MILAN — The boards of French carmaker PSA, the owner of Peugeot, and Fiat Chrysler in separate meetings on Tuesday approved a binding agreement for a $50 billion merger, sources said. The two midsized carmakers announced plans six weeks ago for a tie-up to create the world's No. 4 carmaker and reshape the global industry. A merger is seen helping them deal with big challenges in the industry, including a global downturn in demand and the need to develop costly cleaner cars to meet looming anti-pollution rules. Both companies declined to comment. A source close to FCA had said earlier the two companies could formally announce the agreement early on Wednesday, followed by a conference call to explain further details later in the day. China's Dongfeng Motor Group, which now has a 12.2% equity stake in PSA, will have a reduced stake of around 4.5% in the merged group, two sources said, in a move that could help make regulatory approval easier. According to the deal approved by PSA's board on Tuesday, FCA's robot unit, Comau, will remain within the combined group rather than be spun off as was originally planned in October, the sources said. The new group will evaluate how to extract value from Comau. Ahead of the meetings, entities representing the Peugeot family, Etablissements Peugeot Freres (EPF) and FFP, unanimously approved a proposed memorandum of understanding for the planned merger, a source familiar with the situation said. FCA and PSA are expected to finalise a deal by the end of 2020 to create a group with 8.7 million annual vehicle sales, a source said. That would put it fourth globally behind Volkswagen AG, Toyota and the Renault-Nissan alliance. It was only six months ago that FCA abandoned merger talks with PSA's French rival Renault. FCA would gain access to PSA's more modern vehicle platforms, helping it meet tough new emissions rules, while Europe-focused PSA would benefit from FCA's profitable U.S. business featuring brands such as Ram and Jeep. However, the deal could still face close regulatory scrutiny, while governments in Rome, Paris and unions are all likely to be wary about potential job losses from a combined workforce of around 400,000. PSA's Carlos Tavares will be chief executive and FCA's John Elkann — the scion of Italy's Agnelli family, which controls FCA through their holding company Exor — chairman of the combined company.