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Posts tagged sergio marchionne
Report: Could Chrysler leave Michigan for Tennessee?
Jun 18th
Detroit’s Big Three could become the Big Two. According to an AP report in The Detroit News, state officials have been lobbying for Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne to select Tennessee as the location for Fiat’s joint headquarters with Chrysler Group LLC.
This weekend, Marchionne met with Tennessee governor Bill Haslam at a ceremony celebrating the expansion of a Fiat subsidiary plant in the city of Pulaski. The AP report does not mention any serious talks about headquarters relocation, only that Tennessee officials have been “working me over pretty well,” according to Marchionne.
Fiat hopes to complete its merger with the Auburn Hills-based automaker sometime next year, and earlier reports have stated that the company is seeking $10 billion in financing to buy the remaining bits of Chrysler. If the company were to relocate, it would join Nissan and Volkswagen in having major American automotive operations in Tennessee. Of course, that whole “Imported From Detroit” thing would need to go out the window, as well.
Could Chrysler leave Michigan for Tennessee? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Report: Marchionne offers belated apology for ‘wop engine’ comment
May 22nd
Filed under: Etc., Chrysler, Alfa Romeo, Luxury, Fiat
Automotive News reports Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has issued a written apology for his comments regarding his decision to stick with an Italian engine for the upcoming Alfa Romeo 4C. As you may recall, back in January, Marchionne was quoted as saying, “I cannot come up with a schlock product, I just won’t. I won’t put an American engine into that car. With all due respect to my American friends, it has to be a wop engine.” The CEO penned an apology to the Italian American ONE VOICE Coalition for using the racial epithet, saying that he made the comment in jest. Marchionne also said he realizes his remarks were unacceptable.
ONE VOICE, an organization aimed at fighting discrimination and stereotyping of Italian Americans, thanked Marchionne, Chrysler and Fiat for the apology. Marchionne is an Italian-born Canadian citizen, and he’s gotten in trouble for other comments in the past. In 2011, he called high interest rates Chrysler was paying to the Canadian government “shyster rates.” He apologized a day later.
Marchionne offers belated apology for ‘wop engine’ comment originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 22 May 2013 14:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Chrysler revenue slumps on new model launches
Apr 29th
By Bernie Woodall and Jennifer Clark DETROIT/MILAN (Reuters) – Carmaker Fiat's first-quarter profit slumped more than expected as its U.S. unit Chrysler's sales suffered from the phase-out of the Jeep Liberty pending a new model launch. "We knew we would be limping in the quarter. I just didn't think I was going to limp that much," said Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of both Chrysler and its parent Fiat, on a conference call with analysts and reporters. …
Chrysler earnings down 65 percent on product launches
Apr 29th
By Bernie Woodall DETROIT (Reuters) – Chrysler Group LLC said on Monday quarterly profit fell 65 percent as it absorbed the costs of new-vehicle launches. The No. 3 U.S. automaker, which emerged from a government-sponsored bankruptcy four years ago, stood by its financial forecasts for 2013, including net income of $2.2 billion, up from $1.7 billion in 2012. "We remain on track to achieve our business targets, even as the first-quarter results were affected by an aggressive product launch schedule," said Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of both Chrysler and its parent, Fiat SpA . …
Report: Chrysler CEO: natural gas better than electricity to move vehicles, so government should back off
Apr 26th
Filed under: Chrysler, Fiat, Natural Gas
Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne continues to believe natural gas as the most viable alternative to conventional fueling and says government should stop pushing electric-drive ahead of other advanced-powertrain choices, the Detroit News says.
Marchionne calls natural gas “the cleanest alternative available” and reiterated his longtime claim that Fiat will lose $10,000 for every Fiat 500e battery-electric vehicle the automaker sells. The CEO, of course, is running companies that sell more than EVs. The Ram 2500 Heavy Duty CNG, North America’s first production compressed-natural gas pickup truck, for example. Chrysler started deliveries of that model last summer. The truck has an 18.2-gallon-equivalent CNG tank that gives 255 miles of driving range as well as an eight-gallon gas tank that will provide another 112 miles. The EPA does not calculate fuel economy for big trucks like that, but we do know that the 2500 HD burns fuel in a 5.7-liter Hemi V8 engine and everyday drives report mileage in the mid-teens.
For those keeping track, there are about 1,200 public and private CNG refueling stations in the US, compared with almost 17,000 plug-in charging stations, according to the US Department of Energy.
Chrysler CEO: natural gas better than electricity to move vehicles, so government should back off originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Fri, 26 Apr 2013 11:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Fiat-Chrysler CEO says governments shouldn’t ‘strong arm’ automakers into producing electric vehicles
Apr 19th
Fiat may now be producing electric vehicles, but CEO Sergio Marchionne apparently doesn’t think they represent the future for the automaker just yet — or, at least, the only future. Speaking at the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress in Detroit yesterday, Marchionne said that his company is losing $10,000 on every 500e car sold (a figure he first offered fully two years ago), and added that “doing that on a large scale would be masochism in its extreme.” Those comments came as part of a larger point he was making about the push towards electric vehicles, and what he described as “strong arm” tactics from governments promoting EVs over other alternatives. Instead of “rushing into embracing EVs as the only technological solution,” he says, “government can help drive best results by remaining technology neutral.” As for what Chrysler itself is looking at beyond EVs, Marchionne pointed to traditional engine improvements and alternative fuels like natural gas, which he says is the “cleanest alternative available in terms of emissions.”
Filed under: Transportation
Via: Auto Spies
Source: The Windsor Star, Detroit Free Press
Report: Chrysler 200 replacement coming in January
Mar 18th
Filed under: Sedan, Chrysler, Design/Style
Autoweek reports the next Chrysler 200 will bow early next year. CEO Sergio Marchionne has said the 2015 model will debut next January, and Chrysler plans to cut the 2014 200 model year short to make way for the model’s successor. According to AW, internal documents reveal 2014 model production will start this July and run through early January, 2014. The memos don’t specify whether its Dodge Avenger twin will also see a shortened model year (the latter was originally rumored for discontinuation, but a successor is apparently back on the table). Chrysler is investing some $1 billion to construct paint and body facilities at its Sterling Heights, Michigan plant for the next-generation 200.
From what we’ve heard so far, we can expect the 2015 200 to bring a new design language to the Chrysler brand that will eventually bleed into the automaker’s other products. Early reports have also suggested the four door will boast a nine-speed automatic transmission and return up to 38 miles per gallon.
Chrysler executed a very successful facelift in 2011, turning the flailing Sebring into the newly minted 200. Buyers responded enthusiastically, with sales jumping 44 percent in 2012. That step up was enough to make the 200 the brand’s best-selling car. The momentum hasn’t slackened, either, with sales up 21 percent during the first two months of this year.
Chrysler 200 replacement coming in January originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 18 Mar 2013 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Report: Fiat’s Marchionne ponders Chrysler going public again
Mar 4th
Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Chrysler, Earnings/Financials, Fiat
Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne says there’s a real possibility that its majority-owned Chrysler Group may eventually return to the ranks of publicly traded companies. According to Bloomberg, the Fiat and Chrysler CEO gives that a “50 percent chance” of happening, but he doesn’t appear to favor that scenario: “My preference is to be one single company… we belong together.”
Marchionne has seemingly been operating under the assumption that Fiat will eventually own all of Chrysler, working to buy up the shares it doesn’t own and looking to buy out the retiree trust fund that it shares Chrysler ownership with. Certainly, Chrysler going independent again would be increasingly difficult, as the companies continue to blend products, technologies, facilities and staffing, a trend started immediately after the Italian automaker became custodian of the brand following Chrysler’s bankruptcy in 2009.
Marchionne’s remarks to the media came at Chrysler’s Kokomo, Indiana plant, where he was on hand to announce a major investment at four facilities in the state to build eight- and nine-speed automatic transmissions.
Fiat’s Marchionne ponders Chrysler going public again originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Report: Fiat talking with banks about buying rest of Chrysler
Feb 13th
Filed under: Government/Legal, Chrysler, Earnings/Financials, Fiat
All that stands in the way of Fiat’s total ownership of Chrysler is a 41.5-percent stake currently held by the United Auto Workers healthcare trust, but according to SFGate.com, Sergio Marchionne is currently trying to raise the capital to complete the acquisition. The article says that a deal could be completed in as soon as 12 months, and the estimate for the remaining stake could cost Fiat SpA around $2.98 billion.
With a goal of completing the deal by the end of 2014, Marchionne is said to be in talks with various banks to help finance some of the deal. According to the report, the banks have indicated a need for a stronger balance sheet, controlled debt and reserve cash.
Two things that don’t seem to be on the table to get the deal completed include issuing new shares to raise the capital or selling a stake in Ferrari. Fiat started with a 20 percent share of Chrysler in June 2009, and it raised its stake up to 58.5 percent in January 2012.
Fiat talking with banks about buying rest of Chrysler originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 13 Feb 2013 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Report: Fiat contemplating sub-brand to compete with Dacia, Datsun
Feb 5th
You can add Fiat to the admittedly short list of automakers considering a low-cost brand to rival Dacia. The inexpensive Eastern European brand from Renault-Nissan has performed on the balance sheet like a premium model line, and the money the alliance is taking off the table is encouraging other players to deal themselves in. Pretty soon Nissan’s Datsun sub-brand will join the Dacia party, going on sale in Russia, Indonesia and India and will claim even more rubles, rupiahs and rupees for the parent company. Volkswagen recently said it will make a decision this year on a budget line for the Chinese market. With the euthanasia of Lancia and plans to move the Fiat brand upmarket, company CEO Sergio Marchionne wonders aloud to Automotive News Europe whether there could be room for a new budget brand underneath Fiat.
We’re told that the initiative has been in the idea box for five years and even moved to the stage of name considerations, like Innocenti, but worries about profit kept it from realization. If such a range were to be developed, Marchionne says it couldn’t be built in Italy and stay within budget, and the company is “analyzing its manufacturing capacity outside of Europe to see if a low-cost brand is viable.”
Fiat contemplating sub-brand to compete with Dacia, Datsun originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 05 Feb 2013 08:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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