2015 Chrysler 200 Limited on 2040-cars

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Big Black Friday discounts key to Chrysler 200 sales success

A lot of people go shopping for deals on TVs or computers around the holiday season, but it looks like some folks are finding some fantastic deals on cars too. Take the Chrysler 200 for example. The new sedan had a great November in terms of sales, and by Chrysler's numbers, it delivered 14,317 of them for the month, a 155 percent increase from the same month last year. It even beat the November 2013 sales of the old 200 and Dodge Avenger combined. However, a report from Daily Kanban based on TrueCar data suggests that the good month came at least in part from steep incentives. Based on 20,156 sales of the 200 from TrueCar's database, average transaction prices were about $2,500 to $4,000 under MSRP for all but the base LX front-wheel drive model. That one actually went for about $68 above the typical base price. Going by these numbers, most people could have bought nearly any trim cheaper than the listed price of the one above it. For example, the top C AWD averaged $27,423, less money than the stated MSRP of the lower-spec S AWD. TrueCar's website also shows 200 pricing dipping in the latter part of November and into early December. There's no doubt that the 200 had a stellar month for November. But these figures suggest that it might have come partially because buyers found stacks of money on 200 hoods, while out doing some holiday shopping. Related Video:

Jeep Cherokee faces on-sale delay

A report in The Wall Street Journal looks at some of the obstacles to the 2014 Jeep Cherokee that go beyond its mootable yet "very contemporary" looks, almost all of them based on Fiat's financial position. Starting with that sheetmetal, in defense of it SRT president Ralph Gilles and Jeep design head Mark Allen said they wanted to "make sure the design still looks modern five years from now."
The WSJ piece doesn't cite longevity as a factor, instead saying that its features originated in a design for an Alfa Romeo, the transformation into a Jeep design meant allowing Chrysler get it to market more quickly and save "hundreds of millions of dollars" in engineering.
The need for Fiat to save money while it weathers the European situation has cut budgets for development, engineering and the pace of retooling the Toledo, Ohio plant to build the Cherokee. In a familiar case of snowballing at work, among the effects will be pushing back the Cherokee's volume sales date and delaying updates to some of Chrysler's other products.

Fiat, PSA poised to win EU approval for $38 billion Stellantis merger

BRUSSELS/MILAN — Fiat Chrysler and PSA are set to win EU approval for their $38 billion merger to create the world's No.4 carmaker, people close to the matter said, as they strive to meet the industry's dual challenges of funding cleaner vehicles and the global pandemic. The green light from the European Commission would formalize the creation of Stellantis, a carmaking group that could tap hefty profits from selling Ram pickup trucks and Jeep SUVs to U.S. drivers to fund the expensive development of zero-emission vehicles for sale in Europe and China. The all-share merger announced late last year would unite brands such as Fiat, Jeep, Dodge, Ram and Maserati with the likes of Peugeot, Opel and DS — while targeting annual cost cuts of 5 billion euros ($6 billion) without closing factories. The Commission and Italian-American group Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) declined to comment. France's PSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. PSA and FCA shares reversed losses after the Reuters story was published. PSA stock was last up 2% at 16.83 euros, while FCA shares were 1.9% higher at 11.31 euros. To allay EU antitrust concerns, PSA has offered to strengthen Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp, with which it has a van joint venture, by ramping up production and selling it vans at close to cost price, the people said. FCA and PSA will also allow their dealers in certain cities to repair rival brands. Following feedback from rivals and customers, the carmakers only had to tweak the wording of their concessions, with no changes to the substance, the people said. The companies did not have to use the COVID-19 pandemic to argue for the merger, they added. FCA and PSA have said they hope to complete the merger in the first quarter of 2021. The challenge of switching to electric cars has been complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Just last month, FCA and PSA restructured the terms of their deal to conserve cash and raised their targeted cost savings because of the economic fallout from the health crisis. The companies have said about 40% of the savings will come from product-related expenses, 40% from purchasing and 20% from other areas, such as marketing, IT and logistics.