Mario Monti: Let Chrysler Bail Out Fiat, No Money From Italy

With the exception of France, European governments offer very little help to their ailing car industries. Fiat hoped that Italy would follow the French example. Today, it received a cold shower instead. Italy’s prime minister Mario Monti “offers car makers sympathy, but no aid,” says Reuters.

Italy has not intervened with financial support for Fiat because its European losses are more than covered by revenue from its Chrysler unit in the United States, the report says.

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Sergio For President: One More Year

Despite previous calls for his ouster, Fiat’s CEO Sergio Marchionne was elected for another year as president of the influential European auto trade group ACEA, Reuters reports. In July, Volkswagen demanded Marchionne’s head after he had accused Volkswagen of exploiting the European crisis to gain market share by offering aggressive discounts.

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End Of The Chase: Aston Martin Sold To Italy

Aston Martin won’t be sold to the Indians, nor will it be sold to the Chinese. The low-intensity bidding war for the British boutique sports car maker was won by the Italian private equity group Investindustrial. It is buying 37.5 percent for $241 million via a capital increase agreed with majority Kuwaiti owner Investment Dar, Reuters reports after having received confirmation by Aston Martin.

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Gaddafi's Fiat Stake To Be Unfrozen

Last year, our esteemed Ed in Chief Niedermeyer did intensive research into what was left of then Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi’s share holdings in Fiat. Fiat denied that the Colonel had any financial interest in Fiat, but he did. The holdings were seized by the Italian government.

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UAW: We Shall Not Be Moved To Sell

Sergio Marchionne can’t wait to get his hands on the 41.5 percent of Chrysler, which are in the hands of the UAW’s VEBA trust. Once Fiat is in total control, Fiat and Chrysler could be merged, and the cash could be used to … but you know the drill from years back. Currently at stake are 3.3 percent. Fiat has a call option, but the UAW trust doesn’t want to fork the shares over.

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The Awkward Captain Of Industry

“Whenever Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of carmakers Fiat and Chrysler, appears in public, television crews jostle to beam his words around the globe. Amid the push and shove it’s easy to miss the tall, curly-headed young man who often looks on from the sidelines.

He’s John Elkann. And he’s Marchionne’s boss.”

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Sergio Gives Unsolicited Advice To EU And China Goverments

Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne repeated its pleas that European governments should do something about the overcapacity in the region. Being in Shanghai when he said that, he recommended that the Chinese government does the same. The governments likely won’t be enthusiastic about Sergio’s advice.

Said Sergio while the Wall Street Journal took notes:

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The Gas Station - Ripe For The Museum?

For the first time, I am worried that gasoline is at the end of its life cycle. Gas pumps already have landed in the museum.

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Fiat And PSA Taken Down A Notch By Moody's, Their Banks Are A Ticking Bomb

Carmakers do get hurt when someone calls their cars junk. When Moody’s calls your credit rating junk, then this hurts a lot: It makes financing more expensive, or possibly impossible. Moody’s lowered the credit rating of Fiat and PSA Citroen Peugeot to Ba3 with negative outlook. Translation: This is serious junk, and it might get worse.

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Fiat Bitten By Financial Watchdog

Fiat says it sits on a 22.7 billion euro cash pile. CONSOB, the Italian equivalent of the SEC, told Fiat to explain “size and purpose” of its cash position, says Il Messagero in Rome. Fiat says it is not aware of an alleged probe, and that any suggestion that its cash pile was lower than reported in its statements was false, and will be dealt with.

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Sitting On A Chrysler Cashpile, Marchionne Covets Opel

Fiat/Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne casts longing eyes at GM’s palsied German daughter Opel, still, or again. Fiat was interested in taking Opel off GM’s trembling hands in 2009. Fiat is ready again, says the Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore, if Fiat gets a similar deal as with Chrysler: Opel for nothing, preferably with a cash sweetener.

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Monti Meets Marchionne, Seek Salvation In Exports, Pave The Way For Made In Italy Jeeps
In a sit-down with Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Monti , Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne and chairman John Elkann came to a belated conclusion: A slump in Europe is not such a bad thing of you can sell you cars elsewhere. After the sit-down, Fiat told Reuters that it wants to “re-orient” its business model in Italy “to focus on exports, particularly outside of Europe.” This, the person familiar with the situation said, can mean only one thing: Get ready for made-in-Italy Jeeps and Imported from Torino Chryslers.
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Fiat To Italy: What Have You Done For Me Lately?

Always good for a surprise, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne made an unusual announcement. Not only did he tell everybody that Fiat will receive government financing and tax breaks from Brazil, he also said when he received similar help from Italy: A ver long time ago.

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Marchionne Won't Close Italian Fiat Plants, Overcapacity Be Damned

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne vowed he will not close any of Fiat’s six Italian factories, Reuters reports. Actually, he says, he is a victim of circumstance:

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Marchionne's Money: Kragujevac Can't Pay, Brussels Can

Turns out that Fiat wasn’t affected too bad by Serbia’s sudden cash crunch. As reported yesterday, the country is having a hard time coming up €90 million it owes Fiat towards a jointly owned car plant in Kragujevac. Fiat has a richer sugar daddy, and he lives in Brussels. The European Investment Bank sees no reason not to continue disbursing its 500 million euro ($625 million) loan to Fiat, Reuters says. The loan is earmarked for the same plant.

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Financial Outlook? Fiat Has No Clue

Fiat saved Chrysler. Now, Chrysler keeps Fiat alive. Fiat would be in deep trouble, would it not be for the huge profits generated at Chrysler. Fiat’s future is so cloudy that it can’t give guidance for the near future. Yesterday, Fiat reported a second quarter trading profit of 1 billion euros ($1.23 billion), “bolstered by soaring sales at its U.S. unit Chrysler,” says Reuters. Today, Fiat says it has no clue where it will stand by the end of the year.

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Review: 2012 Alfa Romeo Giulietta 2.0-liter Turbo Diesel
We decided to take a family vacation this summer in Italy, starting in Florence and driving into rural Tuscany to spend a mellow week in a rental villa near some friends. I reserved a “Ford Focus or equivalent” with Hertz and, after a thoroughly unpleasant hour in the queue (“not exactly” indeed), they handed me the keys to an Alfa Romeo Giulietta with a manual transmission, two liter turbo diesel. Forza Italia! I now had one week with the sort of car that American TTAC readers often like to grouse about their inability to buy at home.
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Volkswagen Demands Marchionne's Head

Fiat & Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne’s pointed remarks have attracted the ire of Europe’s 500 pound gorilla Volkswagen. VW demanded that Marchionne steps down as president of the European auto manufacturers association ACEA. If he won’t resign, Volkswagen could resign its ACEA membership – which would send the club into instant irrelevancy, not to mention insolvency.

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De Tomaso Resurrection Ends In Arrest Of Chairman

We never thought much of De Tomaso’s resurrection. Italian police agrees, thinks De Tomaso’s saviours might be crooks and arrested De Tomaso’s chairman Gian Mario Rossignolo, along with two other men on suspicions of that 7.5 million euros ($9.2 million) of public funds were misused in a failed turnaround plan, Reuters says.

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Sergio Pininfarina
Sergio Pininfarina died overnight in his Turin home at the age of 85. The company that bears its name designed almost every Ferrari since the 1950s and deliv…
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Fiat's Viaggio To Bolster Chinese Exports

Italy’s Fiat, late to the Chinese party, finally opened its first plant in China today. Reuters reports that “the plant, based in Hunan province, is the latest development in a 5 billion yuan ($786.73 million) joint-venture between Fiat and GAC, China’s sixth largest auto manufacturer.” The plant also should help improving China’s dismal car export statistics.

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Fiat Tries Cheap Gas To Power Sales

Italy has some of Europe’s highest gasoline prices, with the liter going for approximately €1.83. This translates, hold on to your wallet, to $8.54 for the gallon. Italy is also the country of steep sales drops. The Italian new car market contracted by 18 percent last April. Fiat is Italy’s biggest carmaker and sustains even bigger losses.

Where others see a disaster, Fiat sees an opportunity. It wants to ignite flagging sales with cheap gas.

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Mazda And Fiat Agree On Tie-up

And now for the Italian section of our collection of tasteful tie-up art. Mazda and Fiat not quite tied the knot, but they became engaged. Mazda and Fiat signed “a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development and manufacturing of a new roadster for the Mazda and Alfa Romeo marques based on Mazda’s next-generation MX-5 rear-wheel-drive architecture,” Mazda says in a statement.

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Red Alert: Audi To Swallow Ducati
It would be a great announcement to start the Beijing Auto Show, opening to the media in the world’s largest car market on April 23. Audi has its eyes…
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Marchionne: Chrysler Saved Fiat's Bacon
That was an easy call: Car sales in Europe will decline again this year, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne told his assembled shareholders at a meeting in Turin. Fi…
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Marchionne Warns: Attenzione! Vendite Terribile!

Chrysler most likely will announce record growth in market share for March. No such luck for Chrysler’s owner FIAT. Again, Fiat’s Sergio Marchionne is getting in front of a horrible story in order to soften its inevitable blow. Sergio told Italy’s newswire AGI that “March will be a terrible year for the Italian market.”

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Daimler And Volkswagen Feuding Over Ducati?

If you sell anything, a house, a car, a company, you always appreciate a good bidding war. Rivals Audi and Daimler could be in such a bidding war, if Italy’s Corriere della Sera is correctly informed. They are feuding over a troubled maker of motor cycles, Ducati.

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Fiat Brazil: Uno Kicks Gol Off Top Spot. Films At Eleven

Following up on the good news of sister Chrysler in America, Fiat do Brasil has some good news of their own to send embattled Turin’s way. As of March 20, the Uno has officially pushed ahead of the VW Gol and has taken the sales crown in Brazil. According to Brazilian car site webmotors.com.br, this is the first time the Uno has been ahead of the Gol for an extended period of time. Hitherto, the Uno had threatened VW’s pride and joy a month or another, then lagged behind.

But wait, there’s more!

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Italy Seizes Gaddafi's Stake In Fiat

A year ago nearly to the day, I was investigating the connection between Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and Fiat. With an American-led intervention in Libya underway, Reuters had reported that a Wikileaked State Department document revealed that the Libyan Government owned a two-percent stake in the automaker Fiat as recently as 2006. When I contacted Fiat’s international media relations department for comment, I received this response:

Dear Mr Niedermeyer,

Further to your email, I would mention that the Reuters report you refer to is incorrect. As too are other similar mentions that have appeared recently in the media concerning the LIA’s holdings in Fiat.

The LIA sold all of its 14% shareholding in Fiat SpA in 1986 – ten years after its initial stake was bought. It no longer has a stake in Fiat SpA.

I trust that this clarifies the matter.

It didn’t, actually. In fact the matter remained as clear as mud to me until just now, when I saw Reuters’ report that Italian police have seized $1.46 billion worth of Gaddafi assets, including “stakes in… carmaker Fiat,” under orders from the International Criminal Court.

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(Welcome?) Strikes Paralyze Fiat

Unions in the U.S. are happy with Chrysler’s resurgence. Meanwhile in Italy, unions are being blamed for the woes of Chrysler’s parent.

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Fiat In Distress

Chrysler’s owner Fiat is in trouble. Fiat has a (declining) market share of 28.3 percent in its home market Italy, a market that had tanked 19 percent in February, and 18 percent in the first two months of the year. Fiat’s sales in Italy, down 20 percent in February, slowed more than the floundering market. Fiat’s southern exposure to the ailing parts of Europe is disproportional. Fiat’s top executives will now have an emergency meeting with Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Monti, Reuters reports. Possibly on the agenda: A closure of another Italian factory, and a cutback on investments in Italy.

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Volkswagen Wants Ducati

When I started working for (not at) Volkswagen in the 70s, they talked about adding many brands, all the way “from MAN trucks to a motorcycle.” 40 years later, Volkswagen finally has MAN. And it might soon have that motorcycle wish fulfilled.

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Marchionne: Every 5th Auto Plant In Europe Should Be Closed - The American Way

As dark clouds bunch up over Europe the less healthy of the many European carmakers frantically look for friends that help them get through the hard times ahead. Fiat-Chrysler is “talking to everyone,” CEO Sergio Marchionne told Reuters. Marchionne isn’t picky when it comes to corralling companions: “We can be an active partner everywhere around the world.”

“Roughly, we’re looking at a number in the neighborhood of 20 percent of installed capacity that may be viewed in terms of being structurally redundant,” Marchionne said. I guess he wants (but does not dare) to say that every fifth car plant in Europe should be closed and its workers fired.

How does Marchionne want to do this? The American way:

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Marchionne To U.S.: Buy Made In Italy Chryslers, Or I'll Kill This Kitten Close My Italian Plants

Chrylser’s U.S. plants are working flat-out, and reopening closed plants is not an option, Fiat & Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne tells the Milan daily Corriere della Sera in a wide-ranging interview. Plants and workers in other countries, such as Mexico, Canada or Europe will have to fill a third of the U.S. demand for Chryslers. Marchionne thinks that “demand for cars in Europe will remain low for long. At least until 2014.” He counts on increasing U.S. demand for made-in-Italy Chryslers to keep his Italian plants open. If that demand should slacken, then …

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Lamborghini To Revive Rambo Lambo. In China

Volkswagen’s Lamborghini division, along with Bentley, could be following Porsche and bring out a pricey SUV. At the 2012 Beijing Auto Show in April, Lamborghini should show an SUV study to Chinese customers, Bloomberg writes. A production version is expected by 2016.

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Spy Shot Of Top Secret Ferrari Revealed

If you are lusting for extra oomph, and if all you have to transport is that sadly childless trophy female of yours, then Ferrari has good news from you. The Italians will show a successor to the 599 GTB Fiorano two-seat coupe at the Geneva auto show next month.

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Chrysler Strength Makes Up for Fiat Weakness

Today, Chrysler reported its first yearly profit since 1997. It was $183 million net profit on $55 billion net revenue. Not earth shattering as car companies go, but a start: Chrysler wants to turn this into $1.5 billion of net profit in 2012 and $65 billion of revenue. At the same time, Fiat-Chrysler cut its 2012 revenue target to 75 billion, due to a slowing demand for cars in a weakening European economy. Fiat will not pay a dividend for ordinary shares in 2011.

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Fiat Panda Commercial: Imported From Detroit, Continuamente

Today, “Italian automaker Fiat rolled out an introspective 90-second video for its new Panda compact car on the internet,” says Reuters. The wire claims that the ad is “aimed at tapping into the austerity zeitgeist.”

The commercial is inspired by last year`s “Imported from Detroit” ad that struck a chord with American buyers who want the good times to be rolling again. Now, Fiat wants to do a repeat in Italy.

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Guess Where This American Ram Van Will Be Built

Chrysler is dropping half a billion dollars into an expansion of one of its North American plants, Automotive News [sub] reports. This is where Chrysler will produce (to what degree remains open) its Fiat Ducato van, which will be sold as a Chrysler Ram Van.

Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Chrysler, told reporters in Detroit that this plant will be “the center for production of light-commercial vehicles in North America for us.” Red-white-and-blue blooded flag-wavers may object to the location of the plant. It is about 180 miles southwest of Laredo, Texas. In Saltillo, Mexico.

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Blame It On Sergio: Fiat Flirting With PSA?

Sergio Marchionne always had been a proponent of the “the world only has room for six large global automakers” theory. Fiat and Chrysler isn’t necessarily a marriage between two robust partners. Especially in the Asian growth markets, both are weak. According to Italy’s Corriere Della Sera, Marchionne is rekindling a years-old flirt with France’s PSA Peugeot Citroen. Of course, none of the presumably dating companies will confirm the rumor. However, the rumor was started by Sergio Marchionne himself, in Detroit.

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Molto Grazie!Treasury Hands Fiat Another 5 Percent Of Chrysler

Usually, when you bring a car from Europe to be made in the U.S., you need to bring something else: Money. You know, for buying real estate for a plant, machinery, that kind of thing. Except when you are Fiat. In that case, a thankful U.S. government hands you yet another 5 percent of Chrysler, as a token of its appreciation, for what amounts to be a token act.

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Italy: More Officials Arrested for Photo Enforcement Corruption

A pair of senior police officers in Brindisi, Italy were arrested Tuesday in a speed camera bribery scheme. The owner of a BMW X6 blew the whistle on officers Giuseppe Manca and Antonio Briganti after a speed camera accused him of driving 160km/h (99 MPH) on state route 16, where the limit is 110km/h (68 MPH).

The driver faced a fine of between 500 to 2000 euros (US $650 to $2615) plus license points. The officers offered to make the conviction disappear for payment of 250 euros (US $327) in cash. The officers were able to erase the conviction from the speed camera logs to prevent detection of their tactics.

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What's A Dodge Dart Worth? 5 Percent Of Chrysler

Jack Baruth showed you the Alfa-based new Dodge Dart – but what does it mean? For Sergio Marchionne, the little car means a lot. It means the final five percent of Chrysler, to be exact.

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Alfa Romeo Comes To China, But Will It Sell?

Alfa Romeo debuted as a brand on the Guangzhou Auto Show and they brought… only two cars, and a concept car. Those were the MiTo, the Giulietta and the 4C. Sales are said to begin sometime in 2012. Fiat doesn’t have a working joint venture in China, production at the new Guangzhou-Fiat JV is still at least two years away, so all Alfa’s will be imported and therefore expensive. Will the Chinese buy them?

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Chrysler: Imported From Detroit. I Mean Turin. I Mean…

Chrysler’s latest “Imported From Detroit” ad, which seems to be trying to convince itself to “see it through,” continues the brand’s recent tradition of associating itself (perhaps a bit too closely) with the trials and tribulations of the city of Detroit. That approach, like the 300 itself, might play well in parts of the US market… but Chrysler needs its cars (and ads) to do more. Imagine how this ad might go over in Berlin or Milan, and you might catch a glimpse of Chrysler’s larger challenge: making its cars relevant globally as both Chryslers and Lancias.

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Is Fiat Considering A Pullback From Italy?

As the world struggles to come to grips with economic uncertainty, Bertel has been reporting that Japanese automakers are abandoning their homeland for lower-cost production centers overseas. Now, with economic turmoil shifting to Europe, it seems that Fiat could possibly be preparing for a pullback from Italy. Two basic factors are driving Fiat towards reconsidering its global manufacturing footprint: first, its struggles in the European market where margins are slim and dropping, second, its battles with Italian unions. Though Marchionne’s latest comments are ambiguous at best, some see these factors pushing the Italian automaker away from the market that gave it birth.

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Ferrari's Engine Problem

It’s no secret that Ferrari has been wrestling with the inevitable conflict between its bellowing V12s and European emission regulations, but that’s not the only challenge facing the Prancing Horse’s powertrain division. Sure, there’s the increasingly-tenuous link between the Scuderia’s Formula One technology and its road cars [sub], but in the short term that actually helps the emissions issue by creating a pretext for bringing KERS to the road (where it otherwise has little role). In fact, the real issue for Ferrari’s powertrain team is not even a “Ferrari issue” at all, but a Maserati issue.

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If An Off-The-Rack Ferrari Won't Suit You

How do you grow your business if you are allowed to sell only 7,000 cars a year? Ferrari is in that tough spot. Last year, they sold 6,500 cars with the prancing horse. To protect Ferrari from being mistaken for a brand that everybody drives, a ceiling of 7,000 has been established. (Don’t ask me why 7,000.) So how do you grow your business if you can’t sell more cars? Simple: Charge more. “Personal touches like cashmere-covered seats and gold-colored exteriors” can add 20 to 60 percent to the price, writes Bloomberg.

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Marchionne Gives Up Italy, Looks To U.S. And Brazil For Salvation

Chrysler-Fiat’s Sergio Marchionne is joining the chorus of doomsday CEOs. “2012 will not be a great year for the European market,” Marchionne told Reuters. He is looking to the U.S. and to Brazil for salvation – despite GM’s Akerson having made equally dire forecasts for America.

Fiat is doing so badly at home in Europe that the U.S. and Brazilian markets are now the biggest contributors to the combined group’s profit.

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Sergio Marchionne: International Union-Buster

Considering the United Auto Workers’ VEBA fund is still Chrysler’s second-largest shareholder, CEO Sergio Marchionne is taking an amazingly hard line with the union. With a GM deal long done, and Ford’s deal moving towards approval, Chrysler is the last automaker on the UAW’s to-do list… and Marchionne tells Bloomberg he’s up for a fight if necessary, saying

I sincerely hope that we don’t have to get to arbitration. But if necessary, Chrysler will go there. We and GM are completely different

Marchionne is reportedly pushing the UAW for a number of tough concessions, including a mere $3,500 signing bonus (compared to $5k at GM and a reported $6k at Ford), and the elimination of a planned 2015 cap on entry-level “Tier Two” workers (at 25%). And though both of these are tough asks, he’s using UAW boss Bob King’s concept of union internationalism as a cudgel against the UAW, playing Italian unions off their American counterparts. And as a result, he could earn Chrysler a favored place among America’s unionized autoworkers.

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Moody's: Fiat Is Junk. Bad Junk

Today, credit rating agency Moody’s cut the rating on Fiat’s bonds down two notches from Ba1 to Ba3. Merrill Lynch wrote in a letter to customers that it is ”worth remembering that Fiat debt is already junk rated so there will not be a change in the credit investor base for Fiat, but cost of refinancing goes up.”

Officially, bonds in the Ba family are regarded to be of “questionable credit quality”. In the business, “Ba1” is known as junk, B3 as “bad junk”. It is interesting what got Fiat the demerits: Chrysler.

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Suzuki: Piech Out, Marchionne In?

Despite saber-rattling, legal threats and affirmations that Volkswagen does not intend to give up its share in Suzuki, Volkswagen started its climbdown. Ferdinand Piech himself signaled that Volkswagen can go it alone. At the Frankfurt Auto Show, Piech said that Volkswagen is “big enough.” His man Winterkorn quickly fell in step and told Reuters today: “”Suzuki was one option. But we can do it on our own.”

That should be signals enough for everybody at Volkswagen to put the Suzuki saga behind themselves and to concentrate on other pressing business, such as the messy Porsche merger.

Back in Tokyo, The Nikkei [sub] wrote what seems to be Suzuki’s version of the story.

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Ferrari: Tax The Rich, We Can't Do It All Ourselves!

If Ferrari is known for one thing, it’s super-fast, good-looking cars. But if Ferrari is known for two things, that second thing would be its uncanny ability to separate the wealthy from their hard-earned (or not) cash. And apparently the brand is so good at extracting revenue from its super-wealthy clientele that it doesn’t mind a little competition. The Wall Street Journal reports that, when asked by the Italian paper Republica how governments should overcome their budget crises, Ferrari Chairman Luca DeMontezemolo replied

You have to begin by asking it of those who have most, because it is scandalous that it should be asked of the middle class

Class warfare, or just the natural perspective of a guy who regularly charges the super-rich $2,300 for Alcantara trunk liner and $1,800 for a spare wheel? We report, you decide…

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Everything You Know About Alfa Romeo Is Wrong

Remember when we showed you this leaked Alfa Romeo product plan slide, looked straight into your eyes and swore Alfa Rome would be selling a junior supercar and a compact crossover in the US by the 2012 model year? We were lying. Automotive News [sub] let’s us down gently

Chrysler/Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne still says Alfa, which is owned by Fiat, will make its comeback in late 2012 — which had been the plan since April 2010 — but only for a few units of the limited-edition 4C coupe.

A full return now isn’t scheduled to happen before mid-2013, starting with a compact crossover. The mid-sized Giulia sedan could follow by the end of 2013 at the earliest.

What caused the latest delay? Marchionne has rejected the proposed styling for the [Giulia] sedan three times in the past 18 months.

You decide which bit of news is the worst: that Alfa finds itself lost when it tries to design a D-segment car, or that the hot little 4C is going to be a limited edition deal instead of a 15k-25k units per year, semi-affordable ($60k-ish) little mostro. If forced to choose, I’d argue that the prior challenge is the more difficult and necessary, considering that brand’s past struggles selling larger cars… but of course reasonable minds can disagree. Meanwhile, on a more personal level, I find myself continually amazed at how Alfa’s product plans, like its products themselves, are able to completely attract and repel me from moment to moment. Like so many people who identify “emotion” as a core personality trait, Alfa just can’t seem to have a normal relationship with the people who care about it…

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Suzuki In Engine Deal With Fiat

In what could possibly raise eyebrows in Wolfsburg, Suzuki is getting cozier with Fiat. According to The Nikkei [sub], Fiat will supply Suzuki with 20,000 to 30,000 1.6-liter diesel engines per year. The engines will be built in Europe. Suzuki plans to use the engines in the SX4, which was jointly developed with Fiat, at Suzuki’s assembly plant in Hungary.

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UAW Launches United Nations Of Chrysler And Fiat Unions

Uh-oh: The UAW has reached out to unions representing workers of Chrysler and Fiat in other countries. They want to form a “global network.” The group will not collectively bargain with the companies, King told reporters from Reuters. The group will be just an innocuous clearing-house for information.

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Small Caliber Outgunned, Awaits Alfa Arrival

You’d think with an owner by the name of Fiat, Chrysler would be knee-deep in small cars. Just the opposite is true. The Freep complains:

“Chrysler, for all of its recent improvements, is missing out on one of the biggest opportunities of the year: a chance to grab a larger slice of the small-car segment while Japanese automakers try to rebuild their car supplies after the March earthquake and tsunami that disrupted operations.”

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Forza Italia: Fiat Takes Control Of Chrysler, Gummint Gone

Fiat has reached an agreement with the U.S. Government that will give Fiat 52 percent of the shares in Chrysler and therefore the final controlling majorioty. The Treasury said on Thursday it will sell its remaining 6 percent equity stake in Chrysler to Italy’s Fiat in a deal that will net Washington $560 million, Reuters reports.

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Alfa Zagato TZ3: The Alfa-Viper Connection
Zagato’s 100 year birthday present to Alfa Romeo, the TZ3 Corsa, was originally designed around the Alfa 8C’s running gear. So when Sergio Marchi…
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Fiat Gets A Deal On Chrysler: Majority For $1.27 Billion

In a few months, Fiat will own 46 percent of Chrysler, Fiat announced today in Turin. With another 5 percent milestone reached by the end of the year, Fiat will have the 51 percent majority in Chrysler. According to Germany’s Automobilwoche [sub], the 46 percent level will be reached after Chrysler has paid back the government loans. Payment of the loans is expected for the second quarter of 2011.

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  • Dartdude The bottom line is that in the new America coming the elites don't want you and me to own cars. They are going to make building cars so expensive that the will only be for the very rich and connected. You will eat bugs and ride the bus and live in a 500sq-ft. apartment and like it. HUD wants to quit giving federal for any development for single family homes and don't be surprised that FHA aren't going to give loans for single family homes in the very near future.
  • FreedMike This is before Cadillac styling went full scale nutty...and not particularly attractive, in my opinion.
  • JTiberius1701 Middle of April here in NE Ohio. And that can still be shaky. Also on my Fiesta ST, I use Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires for the winter and Bridgestone Potenza for my summer tires. No issues at all.
  • TCowner We've had a 64.5 Mustang in the family for the past 40 years. It is all original, Rangoon Red coupe with 289 (one of the first instead of the 260), Rally Pac, 4-speed, factory air, every option. Always gets smiles and thumbs ups.
  • ToolGuy This might be a good option for my spouse when it becomes available -- thought about reserving one but the $500 deposit is a little too serious. Oh sorry, that was the Volvo EX30, not the Mustang. Is Volvo part of Ford? Is the Mustang an EV? I'm so confused.