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Marchionne backs off merger plans, could retire after 2018

FCA boss Sergio Marchionne is stepping back from plans to attempt a major auto industry merger like the oft-speculated deal with General Motors last year. According to Bloomberg, Marchionne now wants to grow his automaker through 2018, and then the 63-year-old could retire around the end of that year. Marchionne claims he received merger proposals last year, but he couldn't find an attractive enough partnership. "We went back to concentrate on the 2018 plan which would boost Fiat Chrysler's value and its position in a deal," he said to Bloomberg. He still believes that a big merger is possible, but "it will be someone else's duty," he said after previously hinting about possibly staying at FCA until 2020. Marchionne was clear that any chance for the GM merger was likely over. "I met Mary Barra less than a month ago in Washington," he told Bloomberg. "I don't think I will have another coffee with her. It won't happen again in the future." Now, the boss intends to spend the rest of his time at FCA building the automaker through its five-year plan, and his goal is to grow global deliveries to seven million units a year by 2018. To make that happen, the automaker will invest around $52 billion over that time to improve its brands' product slate. Marchionne began backtracking from the possible GM merger late in 2015 after it became clear that The General's board wasn't interested. Earlier in the year, he seemed more aggressive about the prospect by suggesting a hostile takeover with a bizarre metaphor about giving the company a hug. Related Video: News Source: BloombergImage Credit: Richard Drew / AP Photo Chrysler Fiat GM Sergio Marchionne FCA fca us

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

Fiat diesels might also cheat emissions tests

Et tu, Fiat? Fiat is the latest automaker to come under suspicion for excessive emissions from its diesel vehicles. So far the trouble is only in Germany, as opposed to VW's trouble in multiple countries. And instead of using VW's method of installing software that identifies when the car is undergoing an emissions test and only then turning on emissions control devices, Fiat is running out the clock. Because the German emissions test lasts around 20 minutes, Fiat is accused of having its NOx emissions control systems operate only for the first 22 minutes when the car starts up. This potential new bombshell was first reported by Bild am Sonntag, a German newspaper. Bild says that the Italian automaker is under investigation by German authorities after a test of a 500X revealed this time-based method. Bild also says that Bosch tipped off the German authorities about Fiat's strategy. German transport minister Alexander Dobrindt released a report of new tests of 53 diesel cars and highlighted Fiat's numbers, saying, "We will need to carry out further tests on Fiat models." In February, the environmental lobby group DUH found that a 500X that had been running for a while emitted more NOx than one with a cold engine. Fiat said at the time that it had conducted an internal review and found that its diesel engines comply with the law. Of course, thanks to VW's diesel scandal implosion last fall, questions have been emerging from regulators around the world about diesel emissions from passenger vehicles. Mitsubishi was recently suspected of diesel emission irregularities in Japan. A recent lawsuit in the US accuses Mercedes-Benz of using a cheat device. Greenpeace has raised questions about the testing method that German authorities are using to test diesel vehicles. And on and on and on. Related Video: News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Sajjad Hussain/AFP/Getty Images Government/Legal Green Fiat Diesel Vehicles vw diesel scandal diesel emissions fiat 500x 500x