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Weekly Recap: FCA hit with record fine as NHTSA crackdown continues

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration slapped Fiat Chrysler Automobiles with a record fine this week that could reach $105 million. The punishment comes after NHTSA found problems with the automaker's execution of 23 recalls that affect more than 11 million vehicles. The consent agreement, announced Sunday, calls for FCA to pay a $70-million cash fine and requires the company to spend at least $20 million over a three-year period on industry outreach programs and to beef up old recall campaigns. Failure to comply will result in another $15-million fine. FCA also agreed to federal oversight, which includes an independent monitor to oversee the company's recalls. The $70-million cash fine equals a penalty NHTSA levied on Honda in January. "Fiat Chrysler's pattern of poor performance put millions of its customers and the driving public at risk," NHTSA administrator Mark Rosekind said in a statement. "This action will provide relief to owners of defective vehicles, will help improve recall performance throughout the auto industry, and gives Fiat Chrysler the opportunity to embrace a proactive safety culture." FCA called the deal a "consensual resolution," but admitted that it "failed to timely provide an effective remedy" during certain recalls. "We are intent on rebuilding our relationship with NHTSA and we embrace the role of public safety advocate," the company said in a statement. The announcement kicked off a busy week for the automaker. NHTSA agreed FCA did not need to recall 4.7 million vehicles after an investigation failed to find defects with a power module used in some Jeep, Dodge, and Ram vehicles. A Georgia judge also reduced a civil verdict involving a death in a Jeep Grand Cherokee crash. Amid all of that, the company reported net profit of about 333 million euros, or $364 million in the second quarter on Thursday. OTHER NEWS & NOTES FCA ramps up Hellcat production Despite a decidedly legal and financial week for FCA, there was still time for the performance side of the business to briefly grab the spotlight. The automaker is more than doubling its production of the Dodge Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcats in response to strong demand. The order bank opens the second week of August and production begins in September. FCA will finish up its scheduled 2015 model-year Hellcat builds, and cancel any "unscheduled" versions, though customers will get discounted pricing for 2016.

Ferrari raises $893M, valued at $12B

Ferrari's stock is moving as quickly on the New York Stock Exchange as the brand's iconic sports cars do on the road. The company's incredibly popular initial public offering has already raised $893.1 million by virtue of 17.18 million shares sold for $52 apiece. If the deal's underwriters buy in as well, the figure would grow to $982.4 million. Plus, even after shouldering some of FCA's debt, the automaker carries an enterprise value of $12 billion, Bloomberg reports. Just as the company starts trading on the New York Stock Exchange, the share price is already racing upward, too. As of this writing, Ferrari stock, which is listed under the symbol RACE, is priced at $57.59. At its high so far today, the value reached as high as $60.95. While Ferrari is looking strong, the big winner in this success looks to be FCA because the company should raise $4 billion in the spin-off, according to Bloomberg. With nine percent of the sports car maker on the NYSE and one percent for the underwriters, another 80 percent will be distributed to FCA investors in 2016. When that's through, Exor, the holding company for the Agnelli/Elkann family, should have the largest stake at about 30 percent. Piero Ferrari holds the remaining 10 percent and has no intention to sell it. Related Video: FCA Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering of Ferrari N.V. Common Shares Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU/MI: FCA) ("FCA") and its subsidiary Ferrari N.V. ("Ferrari") announce today the pricing of Ferrari's initial public offering of 17,175,000 common shares at an offering price of $52 per share for a total offering size of $893.1 million ($982.4 million if the underwriters exercise the option described below in full). The shares are expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, October 21, 2015, under the symbol "RACE", and closing of the offering is expected to occur on October 26, 2015. In addition, the underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase an aggregate of up to 1,717,150 common shares of Ferrari from FCA. The offering is intended to be part of a series of transactions to separate Ferrari from FCA. Following completion of this offering, FCA expects to distribute its remaining ownership interest in Ferrari to FCA shareholders at the beginning of 2016. UBS Investment Bank is acting as Global Coordinator for the offering.

Kimi Raikkonen returns to Ferrari

The so-called "silly season" in Formula One conjured up all kinds of rumors, and most of them revolved around Kimi Raikkonen. Would the 2007 World Champion stay at Lotus? Would he switch to Red Bull to replace Mark Webber? Would he return to Ferrari?
Well now we have the answer. Ferrari has confirmed that the Finn is heading back to Maranello, where he will partner with Fernando Alonso starting next season in a two-year deal. That means Felipe Massa, who has been at Ferrari since 2006 but has struggled to keep up the pace since his catastrophic crash in 2009, will need to find a new seat.
The announcement opens up a series of questions as a game of musical chairs commences. Where will Massa go? Who will fill Raikkonen's seat at Lotus? And will Alonso tolerate the team bringing in another former champion and serious contender to challenge his position as number one at the top team? We'll just have to wait and see, but the move in and of itself demonstrates a certain businesslike lack of personal emotion on Kimi's part, having been unceremoniously dumped by Ferrari three years ago to make way for Alonso. Head on down below for the rather Raikkonenly brief announcement.