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Fiat mulling purchase of MV Agusta?

Apparently to be a cool automaker in Europe, you have to build motorcycles. Volkswagen Group bought Ducati in 2012, and BMW has made bikes longer than it's made cars (until recently, it also owned Husqvarna). Fiat might be the next automaker to get into the two-wheel business, with rumors flying that it is considering buying cash-strapped Italian sportbike brand MV Agusta.
At the moment, it's all still very much a rumor, but the purchase would certainly seem to help the motorcycle company. However, according to Asphalt and Rubber, the business would need a lot of cash to grow and sustain itself. Fiat might not want to invest so much into a brand that may never be a huge moneymaker.
MV Agusta is best known for its racing success in the '50s and '60s. Until Japanese manufacturers took over the sport, the Italian company was one of the fastest things on two wheels, with a long list of championships in various classes. Recently, it was briefly owned by Harley-Davidson.

Fiat Chrysler halts European production as coronavirus hits demand

MILAN — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is halting production for two weeks at most of its European plants to help protect staff against the coronavirus pandemic and adjust to a slump in demand, the Italian-American carmaker said on Monday. Italy has been the European country worst hit by the crisis and the first to enforce a nationwide lockdown, which has now been replicated by Spain and, to a lesser extent, by France as the virus sweeps through the continent. With all non essential services closed, including car dealers, and people forced home except for strict working needs, many forecast a heavy fall in car sales in March. FCA — which according to analyst estimates produces around 25% of its vehicles in Europe — said the suspensions through March 27 would allow it "to effectively respond to the interruption in market demand by ensuring the optimization of supply." Ferrari, meanwhile, said it closed its two plants until March 27. Ferrari said it had so far ensured production continuity, and it already implemented all the health measures decided by the Italian government at the two sites, in hometown Maranello and in Modena. But it was "now experiencing the first serious supply chain issues, which no longer allow for continued production." Marco Opipari, an analyst at Fidentiis, said a few weeks of closures was not a big problem in an over-supplied European auto industry and lost production could be recovered later on. "The real problem is on the demand side, people are not buying cars now, and sales volumes are expected to be very bad in March, with a real impact on automakers' earnings," he said. FCA said in a statement that production for its FCA Italy and luxury Maserati units would stop for two weeks, extending a temporary closure period already planned for some Italian facilities. Affected plants are Melfi, Pomigliano, Cassino, Mirafiori, Grugliasco and Modena in Italy, Kragujevac in Serbia and Tychy in Poland. The FIOM union said FCA's decision was "necessary". The carmaker said the freeze would help it to resume activity promptly once market conditions allow it. "The group is working with its supply base and business partners to be ready to enable our manufacturing operations to deliver previously planned total levels of production despite the suspension when market demand returns," it said.

Scott Pruitt unfiltered: EPA administrator talks climate science, car emissions

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt gave Reuters a wide-ranging interview on Monday at his office in Washington, discussing issues from climate science to automobile emissions. The following is a full transcript of the interview: REUTERS: You have said the EPA will focus on a "Back to Basics" approach under your leadership. What does this mean for how EPA enforces polluters? You have been critical of the idea of regulation by enforcement. PRUITT: I think what I'm speaking about, there is a consent decree approach to enforcement, where you use judicial proceedings to actually engage in regulation. Enforcement should be about existing regulations that you're actually enforcing against someone who may be violating that, very much in the prosecutorial manner. As attorney general [in Oklahoma], I lived that. There was a grand jury that I led. Being a prosecutor, I understand very much the importance of prioritization, of enforcing the rule of law, of addressing bad actors. That's something we are going to do in a meaningful way across the broad spectrum of cases, whether it is in the office of air or the Superfund area, or otherwise. REUTERS: Do you want to see states play a bigger role in enforcing polluters, even though some have less of a capacity to do so – financially and personnel wise? PRUITT: I think the state's role is really, when you look at this office working with states, it should be how do we assist, how do we engage in compliance and assistance with states. The office [at EPA that deals with enforcement] is called OECA, the Office of Enforcement, Compliance and Assistance, so those are the tools we have in the toolbox to achieve better outcomes. So what we ought to be doing is working proactively with state DEQs [Departments of Environmental Quality] to get their state implementation plans [for federal regulations] timely submitted, provide assistance and technical support, drive a draft of state implementation plans, and then actually work with them on how to achieve through those plans better outcomes and air and water quality. As far as enforcement is concerned, we will actually work with states. We actually did that recently with Colorado. There was an oil and gas company that was emitting some 3,000 tons, is that what it was, it was quite a bit of ... it was an ozone case. In any event, we joined with Colorado in that prosecution. So sometimes states will do it, sometimes we will join with them.