1977 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham Hardtop 4-door 7.2l on 2040-cars

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PSA shares rise following FCA's breakup with Renault

Shares in Groupe PSA, parent company of automakers Peugeot, Citroen and the DS brand, rose on Thursday as analysts considered the possibility that Fiat Chrysler could turn back to PSA after withdrawing its $35 billion merger offer for Renault. "Both parties have acknowledged the need for scale or [mergers and acquisitions] and may pursue other opportunities. If Nissan was an obstacle (to an FCA-Renault deal) PSA-FCA discussions could resume," wrote brokerage Jefferies. Back in March at the Geneva Motor Show, rumors started swirling that PSA was interested in a potential merger with FCA. Mike Manley, who took over at the helm of Fiat Chrysler following the death of Sergio Marchionne, had indicated a willingness to look into potential partnership options. Of course, that was all before FCA proposed a merger with Renault — with that deal now off the table, attention naturally turns back to PSA, which is also based in France. "We expect both shares to react negatively but see FCA having wider strategic options and Renault shares more downside risk near-term," said Jefferies. According to Reuters, PSA shares were up 1.5% at the time this was published, making it the top-performing stock on France's benchmark CAC-40 Index. Renault saw its shares slump 7%. Shares for FCA fell 3% in early trading on the Milan Stock Exchange. Considering that FCA said in its statement confirming the withdraw of its merger offer with Renault that "political conditions in France do not currently exist for such a combination to proceed successfully," we have to wonder how keen the company is to begin negotiations with another French automaker like PSA. Those thoughts were similarly voiced by Bernstein Research analyst Max Warburton, who said (via Forbes), "Expect PSA to rise on unrealistic hopes it may be FCA's next date." Earnings/Financials Chrysler Fiat Mitsubishi Nissan Citroen Peugeot Renault FCA renault-nissan

FCA recalling 33k vans and SUVs for TPMS problems in two campaigns

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is issuing two, separate recalls covering a total of 33,443 examples in the US of the 2014 Ram ProMaster, 2014 Jeep Wrangler, 2014 Dodge Grand Caravan and 2014 Chrysler Town & Country because of potential problems with the tire pressure monitoring system in the vehicles.
The first campaign is for 23,053 units of the 2014 Ram ProMaster. It's possible for the TPMS to not recognize the location of the data coming from the sensors in the wheels. If this happens, then the low tire pressure warning light comes on and potentially gives the driver a false positive. If the warning isn't cleared, and drivers keep going, they might not be aware of another tire that actually has low pressure. This fix for this is a software update.
The second recall covers 10,390 examples of the 2014 Wrangler, Grand Caravan and Town & Country. According to FCA, it's possible that a test mode for the TPMS is still on since being shipped from the supplier. On affected vehicles, it could cause inaccurate pressure readings. The repair involves disabling that mode on the TPMS module.

New Fiat Chrysler CEO picks management team to tackle industry in flux

MILAN/DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler's new boss unveiled his management team on Monday, seeking to revive the automaker in Europe, forge ahead in North America and keep the group in contention in the industry's race to develop self-driving and electric cars. Mike Manley took over in July after long-time chief Sergio Marchionne fell ill and later died after succumbing to complications from surgery. British-born Manley has since pledged to carry through a strategy Marchionne outlined in June to keep FCA "strong and independent." "The next five years will continue to be extremely challenging for our industry, with tougher regulations, intense competition and probably slower industry growth around the world," Manley said in a letter to employees on Monday. "Nevertheless, with a laser focus on execution and a continued flexibility that allows us to adjust as circumstances change ... we have a clear line of sight to achieving our five-year ambitions." Manley appointed Pietro Gorlier, thus far chief operating officer of FCA's components business, as FCA's next European chief to tackle a region where profitability is below that of peers, many workers are stuck in furloughs and various plants run at below capacity. The carmaker's previous European chief Alfredo Altavilla left after FCA appointed Manley as Marchionne's successor. As head of the components unit, Gorlier has also led Magneti Marelli, the parts unit that FCA may either spin off or sell. He will be succeeded at Magneti Marelli by the parts maker's lighting division head Ermanno Ferrari. Japan's Calsonic Kansei has been in talks with FCA about buying the unit, sources familiar with the matter have said, but no binding agreement has been reached and the deal could still fall apart. Choosing an Italian as head of Europe might soothe some fears in Italy that FCA could weaken its link to Fiat's roots. In his last strategy unveiled in June, Marchionne vowed to convert Italian plants to churn out Alfa Romeos, Jeeps and Maseratis instead of less profitable mass market vehicles to preserve jobs and boost margins. Europe will also become a big part of the company's electrification drive. FCA will copy in Europe what worked in the United States, where it retooled plants to build pricier SUVs and trucks in a move since emulated by bigger rivals Ford and GM. Manley also named new managers to succeed him at Jeep and RAM, the two brands which have been driving profits in recent years and remain at the core of growth plans.