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Fiat Chrysler and PSA boards sign off on merger

MILAN — The boards of French carmaker PSA, the owner of Peugeot, and Fiat Chrysler in separate meetings on Tuesday approved a binding agreement for a $50 billion merger, sources said. The two midsized carmakers announced plans six weeks ago for a tie-up to create the world's No. 4 carmaker and reshape the global industry. A merger is seen helping them deal with big challenges in the industry, including a global downturn in demand and the need to develop costly cleaner cars to meet looming anti-pollution rules. Both companies declined to comment. A source close to FCA had said earlier the two companies could formally announce the agreement early on Wednesday, followed by a conference call to explain further details later in the day. China's Dongfeng Motor Group, which now has a 12.2% equity stake in PSA, will have a reduced stake of around 4.5% in the merged group, two sources said, in a move that could help make regulatory approval easier. According to the deal approved by PSA's board on Tuesday, FCA's robot unit, Comau, will remain within the combined group rather than be spun off as was originally planned in October, the sources said. The new group will evaluate how to extract value from Comau. Ahead of the meetings, entities representing the Peugeot family, Etablissements Peugeot Freres (EPF) and FFP, unanimously approved a proposed memorandum of understanding for the planned merger, a source familiar with the situation said. FCA and PSA are expected to finalise a deal by the end of 2020 to create a group with 8.7 million annual vehicle sales, a source said. That would put it fourth globally behind Volkswagen AG, Toyota and the Renault-Nissan alliance. It was only six months ago that FCA abandoned merger talks with PSA's French rival Renault. FCA would gain access to PSA's more modern vehicle platforms, helping it meet tough new emissions rules, while Europe-focused PSA would benefit from FCA's profitable U.S. business featuring brands such as Ram and Jeep. However, the deal could still face close regulatory scrutiny, while governments in Rome, Paris and unions are all likely to be wary about potential job losses from a combined workforce of around 400,000. PSA's Carlos Tavares will be chief executive and FCA's John Elkann — the scion of Italy's Agnelli family, which controls FCA through their holding company Exor — chairman of the combined company.

Detroit 3 and UAW set for showdown over tiered wages

This week, thousands of United Auto Workers will converge on Cobo Center in Detroit for the Special Convention on Collective Bargaining, an every-four-year event that lets members tell UAW leaders what the negotiating priorities should be during contract negotiations. This is where a lot of sand and a lot of lines start coming together in preparation for contract negotiations between the UAW and the Detroit 3 automakers, which will happen later this year. Number one on the UAW agenda is the end of the two-tier wage system created in 2007 to help the automakers get through bankruptcy; veteran workers are paid the Tier 1 rate of around $29.00 per hour, new hires are paid the Tier 2 rate of between $15 and $20 and get about half the benefits of Tier 1. Tier 2 hiring has been an undoubted success for the automakers, allowing them to keep factories in the US and hire more workers. By agreement, it is capped at a certain percentage of each automaker's workforce, and while the union's ultimate position is to get rid of the dual-scale system entirely; one leader said Ford could easily afford the $335 million it would take to convert all its workers to Tier 1 out of its $6.9 billion in 2014 North American profit, and General Motors could do the same out of the $5 billion it is handing to investors through the (admittedly forced) share buyback. Other delegates say that at the very least they'd be happy with enforcement of the current caps in the new contract. The automakers, conversely, would welcome expansion of the Tier 2 ranks. Including benefits, import automakers pay workers "in the high $40 range" per hour, according to an analyst, while Ford and GM pay about $59 in wages and benefits per hour. More Tier 2 workers on the rolls would let those two companies get labor cost parity with the competition. Fiat-Chrysler pays wages closer to the imports because of special exceptions in its UAW contract that allow unlimited Tier 2 hiring; those exceptions will end on September 14 and bring FCA into line with the other domestics, unless the new contract maintains them. FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne is opposed to the two-tier system, having called it "almost offensive." One analyst says the UAW might win a sizable pay raise for Tier 2 and a small increase for Tier 1, but the keystone issue will be how the hiring matrix can help the automakers keep overall wages in line with the imports.

Driving the Toyota Tacoma, BMW 430i and Chevy Corvette Convertible | Autoblog Podcast #671

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by West Coast Editor James Riswick and Road Test Editor Zac Palmer. First, they talk about driving the Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road (equipped with a TRD Lift Kit), Mini Cooper S Hardtop 2-Dor, BMW 430i xDrive, Chevy Corvette Convertible and Chevy Suburban with the Duramax diesel engine. They discuss the news, including Toyota's desire to differentiate the 86 from the BRZ, the new Jeep Magneto concept and Greg's opinion piece on why Stellantis needs Chrysler. Last, but not least, they dig into the mailbag to help a listener figure out how to replace their Honda S2000 and Honda Fit. Autoblog Podcast #671 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars We're Driving 2021 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road 2021 Mini Cooper S Hardtop 2 Door 2021 BMW 430i xDrive 2021 Chevy Corvette Convertible 2021 Chevy Suburban Duramax diesel News Toyota 86 reportedly delayed to differentiate it from Subaru BRZ Jeep Magneto: Electrifying the Easter Jeep Safari with a Wrangler EV Why Stellantis needs Chrysler Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related Video: Podcasts BMW Chevrolet Chrysler GM MINI Toyota Truck Coupe SUV Diesel Vehicles Luxury Off-Road Vehicles Performance