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Marchionne backs off merger plans, could retire after 2018

FCA boss Sergio Marchionne is stepping back from plans to attempt a major auto industry merger like the oft-speculated deal with General Motors last year. According to Bloomberg, Marchionne now wants to grow his automaker through 2018, and then the 63-year-old could retire around the end of that year. Marchionne claims he received merger proposals last year, but he couldn't find an attractive enough partnership. "We went back to concentrate on the 2018 plan which would boost Fiat Chrysler's value and its position in a deal," he said to Bloomberg. He still believes that a big merger is possible, but "it will be someone else's duty," he said after previously hinting about possibly staying at FCA until 2020. Marchionne was clear that any chance for the GM merger was likely over. "I met Mary Barra less than a month ago in Washington," he told Bloomberg. "I don't think I will have another coffee with her. It won't happen again in the future." Now, the boss intends to spend the rest of his time at FCA building the automaker through its five-year plan, and his goal is to grow global deliveries to seven million units a year by 2018. To make that happen, the automaker will invest around $52 billion over that time to improve its brands' product slate. Marchionne began backtracking from the possible GM merger late in 2015 after it became clear that The General's board wasn't interested. Earlier in the year, he seemed more aggressive about the prospect by suggesting a hostile takeover with a bizarre metaphor about giving the company a hug. Related Video: News Source: BloombergImage Credit: Richard Drew / AP Photo Chrysler Fiat GM Sergio Marchionne FCA fca us

Fiat-Chrysler alliance in jeopardy due to Pentastar's IPO filing?

The four-year relationship between Fiat and Chrysler has thus far been beneficial for both automakers, but it has also proven to be a complicated battle between Sergio Marchionne and the United Auto Workers - the latter controlling the remaining 41.5 percent of Chrysler. With the recent filing for a US IPO, it looks like Marchionne and the UAW appear to be playing a billion-dollar game of chicken, with both sides far apart on how much the union's shares are worth. If it comes down to Chrysler's remaining stake being publicly traded, it could act to drive a wedge between the two companies.
According to Bloomberg, Fiat's chairman John Elkann says "if the IPO will take place, there will be two companies, and that's different than having a single one." Now, we're not great at math, but this sounds like the complete opposite of the full merger that Marchionne has been pushing for since taking the helm at Chrysler. Bloomberg notes that the UAW's shares should be worth around $5.6 billion, but Fiat could end up paying as little as $4.9 billion for Fiat to gain full control of Chrysler. A story by The Detroit News points out that Marchionne's "alleged low-balling" is just the latest hurdle the Auburn Hills-based automaker must overcome as its ownership is being fought over for the fourth time in 15 years.

Google-Chrysler autonomous project will include ride-sharing

Google's new Waymo automobile-technology division might have just gotten "way mo" interesting, if you'll excuse the pun. Google, which this spring said it would work with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles on the development of a self-driving Chrysler minivan prototype, is adding a ride-sharing component to the project, Bloomberg News says, citing people familiar with the process. Representatives with both Fiat Chrysler and Google parent Alphabet Inc. declined to comment to Bloomberg. The ride-sharing service, which would compete with fellow San Francisco Bay Area-based companies such as Uber and Lyft, may debut as soon as the end of next year. Uber continues to move forward with its own self-driving efforts, launching self-driving tests (with engineers behind the wheel) in Pittsburgh in September and announcing this week that it would start tests in San Francisco. Those efforts may be delayed, however, as the state of California requires special permitting for testing out self-driving technology, and while the state has granted those permits to automakers such as General Motors, Tesla and Ford, it hasn't for Uber. Google and Chrysler said earlier this year that it would develop about 100 autonomous-driving Pacifica prototypes, but the ride-sharing service would require more of those vehicles to be built. Google's auto-technology operations, now called Waymo, have been headed by former Hyundai executive John Krafcik since September 2015. The division has reportedly brought in more executive-level personnel to speed things along. Meanwhile, Chrysler is slated to unveil an all-electric prototype version of the Pacifica at Las Vegas's annual CES show next month. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.