Fiat’s 100% of Chrysler: what’s it mean?

January 26, 2014 by Alastair Sloane

Jeep Grand Cherokee

Fiat 500 Sport

Fiat has confirmed the complete takeover of the Chrysler Group, once part of America’s ‘big three’ monopoly with Ford and General Motors. But what does it mean for the Italian company? Fiat acquired the remaining 41.46 per cent in Chrysler that it didn’t previously own. The stake was owned by the VEBA Trust – a retiree healthcare trust affiliated with the United Auto Workers union. The deal will see Chrysler Group pay $US1.9 billion and Fiat pay US$1.75 billion to buy out the VEBA Trust. The total of US$3.65 billion has been paid, with Chrysler adding a further US$700 million in four, equal annual instalments, with the first to be made as soon as Fiat pays up.

Sergio Marchionne, Fiat Chrysler CEO

The deal ends the lengthy negotiations between Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne and the stakeholders. The VEBA Trust had threatened to sell its shares on the open market after Fiat and VEBA valued the 41.16 per cent stake very differently. However, now that the deal is done, Marchionne’s bid to merge Fiat and cialis 10mg

Chrysler and create the world’s seventh biggest carmaker will progress. As part of the deal, the UAW union has agreed to support the Fiat-Chrysler alliance as the companies merge, including agreeing to Marchionne’s restructuring plan to make the group much more competitive and cost-effective. The merger will allow the two companies to share resources and cash much more closely across all brands – Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lancia and Maserati with Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep. The agreement limits the amount of money that Fiat must spend to take over and merge with Chrysler. Analysts with Bloomberg say cialis 20 mg price

that puts the Italian company in a position to gain financial resources from its US unit to help turn around unprofitable European operations. Marchionne has sought since taking the helm at Fiat in 2004 to combine the company with another carmaker to challenge Toyota and the Volkswagen Group in sales. Marchionne has been the CEO of both Fiat and the Chrysler Group since 2009. He said: “In the life of every major organisation and its people, there are defining moments that go down in the history books. For Fiat and Chrysler, the agreement just reached with the VEBA is clearly one of those moments.” “The unified ownership structure will now allow us to fully execute our vision of creating a global automaker that is truly unique in terms of mix of experience, perspective and know-how, a solid and open organisation that will ensure all employees a challenging and rewarding environment.” Fiat first started buying Chrysler stock in June 2009 as part of a US Government bailout of the carmaker, which was losing as much as US$100 million a day at the time. GM was also bailed out. Ford received some government help but mostly plotted its own course through the GFC.

French carmaker Renault has won the 2025 European Car of the Year award with the all-electric R5 supermini (pictured). It’s the brand’s second win in a row, following the new Scenic’s gong in 2024. The R5 led the vote count from start to finish from the 60 jurors in 23 countries. It received 353 points, beating the Kia EV3 (291 points) and the Citroen C3/e in third place with 215 points. It’s Renault’s eighth win in the 62-year history of the Coty award. The R5 goes on sale in the UK this month. There are two main drivetrains: a 90kW motor/40kWh battery model with a 300km range, and a 112kW/52kWh example with a 400km range. The R5 starts in price at £22.995, or $NZ50,000.

BMW and Mercedes-Benz are among carmakers urging the European Union to get a favourable trade deal with US President Donald Trump. The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) wants to keep open trade with both the US and China. It fears Trump, who promises heavy tariffs on Chinese imports to the US, will look unfavourably on countries that continue to trade freely with Beijing. Ola Kallenius, president of the group and chairman of the management board of MB, said in a letter to EU leaders: “Overall, it is essential to recognise that trade with China and the US is most vital for the prosperity of the European economy.The EU should seek a grand bargain with the US and attempt to avoid a potential trade conflict.”

A go-anywhere EV concept for the US military uses an onboard 12kW diesel generator to top up the batteries on the move. The all-wheel-drive has 800-volt technology and a 200kWh battery pack to power three electric motors, two in the rear and one up front. Claimed output is 745kW/15,590Nm, or 1000hp and 11,500 ft-lb of torque. The four-seater was developed by the defence division of General Motors and is based on the platform of the Hummer SUV. It rides on Fox performance shock absorbers and 37-inch tyres and comes with “exceptional” approach and departure angles for off-road mobility. Maximum range using the generator to keep things ticking over is said to be around 500km.

The outside temperature in Midland, Texas, was 40.5C when staff at the local office of the US National Weather Service set out to show the cabin of a closed car can literally get baking hot in summer. They mixed up a batch of chocolate chip cookies and laid them on the car’s dashboard – the surface of which showed a temperature of 87.7C. A little over four hours later the cookies were ready to eat. “Even though ours weren’t golden brown, we can confirm that they are done and delicious,” the staff wrote on Facebook.