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Fiat Chrysler CEO says final merger talks with Peugeot going well

BRUSSELS — Fiat Chrysler's chief executive Michael Manley said on Wednesday that merger talks with Peugeot owner PSA  to create the world's No. 4 carmaker are progressing well and he hopes to have a deal within 12-14 months. Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of an industry meeting, he said he doesn't expect any major obstacles that could delay a final agreement. "Talks are progressing really well," Manley said about negotiations with the French carmaker ahead of a briefing by the European automotive association (ACEA), of which he is president. His comments come a month after the two carmakers agreed to a binding deal worth about $50 billion to combine forces in response to a slowdown in global demand and mounting costs of making cleaner vehicles amid tighter emissions regulations. Manley's timeline for completing the deal by early 2021 is in line with a forecast made by the companies in December. Fiat and Peugeot are now getting into the details of how the merger will work, including choosing which vehicle platforms — the technological underpinnings of a vehicle — will fit which products in a combined company. Because customers in different locations still prefer vastly different cars, there is room for multiple platforms in a combined group, Manley said. "That global platform is an elusive beast," he added. "This concept of a massive global platform in my mind is almost a myth, but that doesnÂ’t mean to say weÂ’re not going to recruit significant volume." Related Video:    

Ford leads top searched-for car brands on Google in 2014

With less than two weeks until 2014 takes its final bow, anyone and everyone is looking back on the past 50 or so weeks to see how they stacked up. For search giant Google, that means its time to check out its annual Trends report. Besides the most popular search term (the late, great Robin Williams), the most searched for gadget (the iPhone 6) and most searched for disease symptoms (quite worryingly, Ebola took the crown here), we have the most searched for automaker. With the long-awaited sixth-generation of one of America's most iconic vehicles, the Mustang, and a ground-breaking update for the US market's perennial best seller, the F-Series, it should come as no surprise at all that Ford was Google's most searched for automaker in 2014. Jeep captured second place, while Dodge, took third. We suspect introducing a pair of cars with 707 horsepower had something to do with that bronze medal... Scroll down to see the rest of this year's most searched for automakers, and then head into Comments and let us know if you're surprised by any of these. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Featured Gallery 2015 Ford Mustang: First Drive View 55 Photos News Source: Google via AutoGuideImage Credit: Copyright 2014 Drew Phillips / AOL Dodge Ford Jeep Technology

China-FCA merger could be a win-win for everyone but politicians

NEW YORK — Fiat Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne has said the car industry needs to come together, cut costs and stop incinerating capital. So far, his words have mostly fallen on deaf ears among competitors in Europe and North America. But it appears Marchionne has finally found a receptive audience — in China. FCA shares soared Monday after trade publication Automotive News reported the $18 billion Italian-American conglomerate controlled by the Agnelli family rebuffed a takeover from an unidentified carmaker from the Chinese mainland. As ugly as the politics of such a combination may appear at first blush, a transaction could stack up industrially, and perhaps even financially. A Sino-U.S.-European merger would create the first truly global auto group. That could push consolidation to the next level elsewhere. Moreover, China is the world's top market for the SUVs that Jeep effectively invented, so it might benefit FCA financially. A combo would certainly help upgrade the domestic manufacturer; Chinese carmakers have gotten better at making cars, but struggle to build global brands, and they need to develop export markets. Though frivolous overseas shopping excursions by Chinese enterprises are being reined in by Beijing, acquisitions that support the modernization and transformation of strategic industries still receive support, and the government considers the automotive industry to be strategic. A purchase of FCA by Guangzhou Automobile, Great Wall or Dongfeng Motors would probably get the same stamp of approval ChemChina was given for its $43 billion takeover of Syngenta. What's standing in the way? Apart from price (Automotive News said FCA's board deemed the offer insufficient) there's the not-insignificant matter of politics. Even as FCA shares soared, President Donald Trump interrupted his vacation to instruct the U.S. Trade Representative to look into whether to investigate China's trade policies on intellectual property. Seeing storied Detroit brands like Jeep, Chrysler, Ram and Dodge handed off to a Chinese company would provoke howls among Trump's economic-nationalist supporters. It might not play well in Italy, either, to see Alfa Romeo and Maserati answering to Wuhan instead of Turin — though Automotive News said they might be spun off separately. Yet, as Morgan Stanley observes, "cars don't ship across oceans easily," and political considerations increasingly demand local manufacture of valuable products.