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FCA-Renault merger faces tall odds delivering on cost-cutting promises

FRANKFURT/DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Renault promise huge savings from a mega-merger, but such combinations face tall odds because of the industry's long product cycles and problems translating deal blueprints into real world success, industry veterans told Reuters. BMW's 1994 purchase of Rover, and Daimler's 1998 merger with Chrysler both made sense on paper. The companies promised to hike profits by combining vehicle platforms and engine families. Both combinations proved unworkable in reality, and were unwound. Renault and Nissan, which have been in an alliance since 1999 designed to share vehicle components, have only managed to use common vehicle platforms in 35% of Nissan's products despite an original target of 70%, according to Morgan Stanley. FCA and Renault have raised the stakes for themselves by ruling out plant closures. That increases the pressure to achieve more than $5 billion in promised annual savings from pooling procurement and research investments. The two companies have yet to fill in many of the blanks in the merger plan put forward by Fiat Chrysler. Renault's board is expected to act soon to accept the proposal, but that would lead only to a memorandum of understanding to pursue detailed operational and financial plans. A final deal and the legal combination of the two companies could take months to complete if all goes well. Pressure to cut automotive pollution is driving the latest round of consolidation. Automakers are looking at multibillion-dollar bills to develop electric and hybrid cars and cleaner internal combustion engines. Fiat Chrysler and Renault are betting they can design common electric vehicle systems, then sell more of them through their respective brands and dealer networks, cutting the cost per car. Developing all-new electric vehicles can bring more opportunities to share costs from the outset, industry experts said. "With the emergence of connected, autonomous, electric and shared vehicles, carmakers face immediate investments, so new opportunities for sharing costs have emerged," said Elmar Kades, managing director at Alix Partners. However, most electric vehicles lose money. This is a challenge for city car brands in Europe in particular. Both Renault and Fiat rely heavily on this segment for sales.

Marchionne uses racial epithet to describe what must power future Alfa Romeo models

Sergio Marchionne and his Fiat empire have a lot riding on the US return of the Alfa Romeo brand. The endeavor has been in progress for what feels like a lifetime - certainly for as long as Fiat has had the Chrysler brand under its Italian wing.
It's not surprising that Fiat CEO Marchionne needs a perfect first Alfa to mark a return to America. And here's where things get dicey. Nobody would argue with Marchionne's insistence that Alfa Romeo's be powered by Italian engines - as Marchionne himself is quoted to have said at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show, "There are some things that are well done in Italy."
If not what he said, then, it's how he said it that has eyebrows raised. "I cannot come up with a schlock product, I just won't. I won't put an American engine into that car. With all due respect to my American friends, it needs to be a wop engine." Wait, what's that?

Fiat 500e Inspired by Los Angeles gets beach-inspired paint

Fiat is gradually rolling out more variants of the electric 500e. The latest addition to the range is a California-themed model called Inspired by Los Angeles that stands out with a handful of trim-specific styling cues, including an exclusive paint color, and a lofty price tag. The blue-ish gray (or gray-ish blue?) color is called Marine Layer Mist, and it was chosen for a very specific reason. Fiat explains that this shade is named after "the coastal marine layer that results from air masses of different temperatures and densities interacting, a natural phenomenon from May through June that gives the City of Angels a magical and complex feel." Gray mirror caps add a touch of contrast. Inside, there's beige upholstery, a soft-touch steering wheel, and a Marine Layer Mist dashboard insert. Fiat also threw in a seven-speaker sound system with an amplifier and a subwoofer; it includes four Virtual Venues, or sound modes, picked by Italian singer Andrea Bocelli. Fiat hasn't made any drivetrain changes. Power for the 500e comes from a single electric motor that draws electricity from a 42-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack to zap the front wheels with 117 horsepower and 162 pound-feet of torque. Range checks in at up to 149 miles. Level 2 driving technology comes standard. It relies on the adaptive cruise control and the lane-keeping system to assist the driver on select roads. It does not make the 500e fully autonomous, or even hands-free, but Fiat notes the hatchback is the only EV in its segment to offer Level 2 capabilities. Pricing starts at $37,595 including a $1,595 destination charge, so the 500e has shifted light-years away from its roots as an affordable people's car. For context, the 500e RED announced in December 2023 starts at $34,095 and the last-generation model released in 2007 and still sold new in some European markets (at least until later in 2024) costs ˆ17,700 (about $19,200 at the current conversion rate) in Italy. Built in Turin, Italy, the 500e Inspired by Los Angeles is on-sale now and deliveries are scheduled to start in the third quarter of 2024. Every 500e regardless of trim comes with a Level 2 home charger or charging credits valid in the Free2move charging network. Looking ahead, the 500 range will grow with the addition of a hybrid model, though there's no word on whether this model will be sold in the United States.