Touring Convertible 2.4l Adjustable Rear Headrests Center Console Clock Seats 45 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Marchionne emailed Barra about merger between FCA and GM

Sergio Marchionne is adamant that global automakers will have to merge to remain profitable in the near future, and he'll tell that to anyone who's listening. Mary Barra, however, is not interested. According to The New York Times, the Fiat-Chrysler chief proposed a merger with General Motors via email to his counterpart back in March. Marchionne proposed meeting to discuss the matter, but Barra and her team reportedly rejected even entertaining the idea. This of course is not the first time Marchionne has raised the idea of a merger. He masterminded the marriage between Fiat and Chrysler, and reports have since suggested further mergers with Volkswagen, Peugeot, Ford, and others – including GM's own Opel unit. Some have taken his calls for consolidation as a weakness, but Marchionne insists that his empire is in good health – and that it's the industry as a whole which is in an untenable position. According to his view, automakers around the world need to align themselves into larger groups in order to reduce redundancy in investment, development and infrastructure – the duplication of which he terms as wasteful. "It's fundamentally immoral to allow for that waste to continue unchecked," said Marchionne to the Times. "I think it is absolutely clear that the amount of capital waste that's going on in this industry is something that certainly requires remedy," he said in a conference call with industry analysts late last month following the rejected GM approach. "A remedy in our view is through consolidation." News Source: The New York TimesImage Credit: Paul Sancya/AP Chrysler Fiat GM Sergio Marchionne merger fiat chrysler automobiles

Stellantis will enter joint venture with Samsung SDI for EV batteries

SEOUL — South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI Co Ltd and global automaker Stellantis NV have agreed to jointly produce electric vehicle (EV) batteries for the North American market, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Samsung SDI, an affiliate of South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics, already has EV battery plants in South Korea, China and Hungary, which supply customers such as BMW and Ford. "The two companies (Samsung SDI and Stellantis) have struck a MOU (memorandum of understanding) to produce EV batteries for North America," the person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The source spoke of condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. The person said the location of the battery joint venture is under review and will be announced later. In July, Reuters reported that Samsung SDI may build a battery plant in the United States, citing a company source. South Korea's Yonhap news agency earlier reported the two companies plan to build a factory in the United States, citing industry sources. Samsung SDI and Stellantis did not have immediate comment when reached by Reuters. Stellantis on Monday struck a preliminary deal with battery maker South Korea's LG Energy Solution (LGES) to produce battery cells and modules for North America. Shares of Samsung SDI were up 2.6% as of 0300 GMT, versus a 0.6% rise in the KOSPI benchmark index. Related video: Green Alfa Romeo Chrysler Dodge Ferrari Fiat Jeep Maserati RAM Citroen Lancia Opel Peugeot Vauxhall

NHTSA investigating Chrysler for airbags, ignition switches

Chrysler is being targeted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in a pair of actions that focus on over 1.2 million Jeeps, minivans and crossovers.
The first is a "preliminary investigation" that focuses on an airbag issue afflicting the Jeep Commander built in model years 2006 and 2007 and Grand Cherokee from 2005 to 2006. In total, 700,000 vehicles could potentially be affected. It's not entirely clear what the airbag issue is, with The Detroit Free Press simply stating that the restraint systems in the affected Jeeps may be "faulty."
The other investigation is what's called a "recall query" and it covers a problem that General Motors should be familiar with. In this case, there could be a problem with the ignition switches of 525,000 vehicles, ranging from 2008 to 2010 Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans, to the 2008 to 2010 Dodge Journey crossover. Again, it's not entirely clear what sort of behavior prompted the 32 complaints that NHTSA has received on these vehicles.