1996 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4 on 2040-cars

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FCA withdraws its offer to merge with Renault

UPDATE: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles released a statement confirming that it has withdrawn its merger offer, saying "it has become clear that the political conditions in France do not currently exist for such a combination to proceed successfully." The full statement can be read below our original story, which continues below. Fiat Chrysler has withdrawn its $35 billion merger offer for Renault, the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday. A source said that FCA had informed Renault it had withdrawn the offer after Renault's board of directors failed to reach a decision on the merger during a meeting that ran late into the night Wednesday. Instead, the board granted the French government's request to postpone its vote. The government wanted time to persuade Renault's reticent alliance partner Nissan. Renault's board issued a press release that said simply that it was "unable to take a decision due to the request expressed by the representatives of the French State to postpone the vote to a later Council." WSJ reported that Nissan's two members on Renault's board were balking, while the rest of the board favored the merger. The French government wouldn't it back the deal unless Nissan agreed to maintain its role in the Renault-Nissan alliance, sources said. Nissan had received little advance warning of the merger proposal and was balking. Apparently the French government thought Nissan could be brought around if given more time. "We should take our time to make sure that things are done well," French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told French television on Wednesday. When the French requested a delay and Renault's board granted it, FCA withdrew. The French state, which owns 15% of Renault, had also been seeking more influence over the merged company, firmer job guarantees and improved terms for Renault shareholders in return for blessing the $35 billion tie-up. The merger would have created the world's third-biggest automaker with combined sales of 8.7 million vehicles per year, and was intended to cut costs as the parties develop electric and autonomous vehicles. Read Fiat Chrysler Automobile's full statement below: FCA withdraws merger proposal to Groupe Renault June 5, 2019 , London - IMPORTANT NOTICE The Board of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. ("FCA") (NYSE: FCAU / MTA: FCA), meeting this evening under the Chairmanship of John Elkann, has resolved to withdraw with immediate effect its merger proposal made to Groupe Renault.

Cheapest SUVs of 2024

There is no doubt that cost is the number one decision maker when it comes to purchasing a vehicle. As prices continue to climb, affordable choices are getting harder to find, so we dug through what's available to find the least expensive SUVs in the most popular classes.  These prices are current as of January 2024, using available manufacturer suggested retail prices for 2024 models wherever possible. The prices include destination fees, but not dealer markups or incentives. Cheapest small SUV: 2024 Hyundai Venue Not surprisingly, the most affordable SUVs are the smallest. There's a whole host of subcompact SUVs out there, with some of the first introduced being the Nissan Juke, Mini Countryman and Kia Soul. In the beginning, these micro utes were marketed to empty nesters and first-time buyers, but nowadays they represent an alternative to the conventional sedan and have been increasing market share ever since. Profit margins in this class are narrow and popularity is high, which means the entrants are competitively priced. The top choices in the class are only a couple thousand dollars more than the most affordable alternatives below, so it may make sense to consider our favorites that include the Mazda CX-30, Volkswagen Taos and Chevrolet Trax. 2024 Hyundai Venue: $21,135 The Hyundai Venue debuted in 2020 and earned praise for its overall value. You get a ton of features for the money as well as a very generous warranty. Holding it back is its rather weak engine and very tiny proportions. Honorable mentions: 2024 Chevrolet Trax: $21,495 2024 Kia Soul: $21,565 Cheapest midsize SUV: 2024 Chevrolet Equinox Compact SUVs have the broadest appeal thanks to a very diverse group. It seems as though there's a great pick for nearly every taste, whether you're seeking something sporty, rugged or luxurious. They're a great pick for small families with one child and/or a dog. The class is led by vehicles that include the Honda CR-V, Kia Sportage and Mazda CX-50, which are still within reach of most shoppers' budgets. 2024 Chevrolet Equinox: $27,995 The Equinox debuted back in 2005 and this current third-generation was last redesigned in 2018, though a new one is right around the corner for the 2025 model year. While the current 2024 model may be showing its age, it still deserves your consideration for its comfortable ride quality, confident cornering and roomy passenger space.

Scrapyard Gem: 2008 Mitsubishi i

YORK, England — The mainstream EV is still a bit too young to be easy to find in the car graveyards I frequent (though I have documented a few, including Toyota's RAV4-based competitor to the GM EV1), but I remain hopeful that I'll run across a discarded Mitsubishi i-MiEV during my junkyard travels. This might be difficult, since Mitsubishi sold just over 2,000 examples of the short-range electrified kei car in the United States before discontinuing its sale here in 2016. However, I managed to find one of the i-MiEV's gasoline-fueled brethren in a knacker's yard across the Atlantic: a Mitsubishi i. Yes, I traveled to Northern England in January with the primary goal of visiting one of only two American-style self-service scrapyards in Great Britain (that's what they call them over here): the U-Pull-It in York, which is owned by Dallas-based Copart. You'll be seeing many interesting discarded vehicles from that all-too-brief trip, so be sure to check in here regularly. The i (there ought to be an international treaty forbidding the use of a single lower-case letter as the designation for a vehicle model, as well as vehicles with punctuation marks in their names) was built from the 2006 through 2013 model years. Supposedly its name refers to the pronunciation for the Japanese word for "love." In order to meet kei standards in its homeland, it was fitted with a rear-mounted engine displacing just 0.659 liters. It appears that the internal-combustion-powered i was built only in right-hand-drive configuration, so Mitsubishi limited exports to drive-on-the-left places such as Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Kingdom. The MSRP for a new 2008 i in the UK was GBP9,084, or about GBP14,173 after inflation (that's about $17,992 in 2024 dollars). It seems that the i was just too weird-looking and too slow to appeal to many British car shoppers. Today's Junkyard Scrapyard Gem was one of a mere 303 examples of the Mitsubishi i exported to Europe. The i was available only with a four-speed automatic transmission. The engine compartment refused to open, and I grew tired of beating up my frozen fingers trying to force it open in the 29°F chill of North Yorkshire on a January morning Â… so here's the best shot of the turbocharged DOHC three-banger I was able to get.