Sergio Marchionne Gives Keynote Speech At Canadian International Auto Show

by Derek Kreindler

Published: February 16th, 2014

sergio marchionne gives keynote speech at canadian international auto show

While the Canadian International Auto Show is little more than a blip on the radar of the global auto community, this year’s keynote speaker was none other than FCA head Sergio Marchionne gave the keynote address. Marchionne, who immigrated from Italy to Toronto at the age of 14, joked about returning to his “hometown”. Autos.ca managed to film the speech in its entirety, and you can see both parts here.

#Fca #Fiat.Chrysler #SergioMarchionee #Toronto

Derek Kreindler

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Vulpine on Feb 16, 2014

There's just one vehicle I want from Fiat/Chrysler: A Jeep Wrangler-based pickup truck. That's all.

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- Turboprius on Feb 16, 2014
  
  Have a Wrangler and 30 grand lying around? http://www.aev-conversions.com/vehicles/brute-double-cab
  
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- Vulpine on Feb 16, 2014
  
  @turboprius What good is a pickup truck with no load capacity? I've checked that out before and while I like it, I'm not in love with it for several reasons--lack of load capacity is one of them, along with sticking you with a crew cab and not the "Gladiator's" extended cab concept/prototyped years ago.
  
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- Efridge on Feb 16, 2014
  
  They made one in the 80s called the CJ-8 "scrambler."
  
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Lou_BC on Feb 16, 2014

Many single him out for the choices made in relation to products sold by FCA. If one looks at his bio, he is a CGA with a speciality in accounting, he has a MBA, and a law degree. He is a good at business and turning things around. His understanding of the automotive industry products will be only as good as the advisers he has around him. His choice of location for Head Office, tax centre, and stock offerings shows that he does have a sound understanding of taxes and business. He mentioned excess capacity in his speech which may be a warning shot to the Canadian Government but it may also be a harbinger of things to come. Fiat has excess capacity in Europe and may view his Canadian plants as part of that excess capacity. He has said that he will not build another plant in North America in relation to the request from Ram excutives for more capacity. Once he has excess capacity eliminated and has updated and modernized his line of products (Especially in Europe) what he needs to put heavy emphasis upon quality and durability. Fiat, Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, and Jeep are not known as being reliable or durable products. The 'F'ix 'I'T 'A'gain 'T'ony stigma needs to be removed from all of its brands for the company to advance ahead of the other players. 700 million to build minivans might be too much in a shrinking market against players that sell for more but are considerably more reliable. Dodge minivans sell well due to deep discounts. That was mentioned in Sergio's speech. Buyers are focused on the "deal" and not the product. For many of his current products, the "deal" is what sells them.

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- Lou_BC on Feb 16, 2014
  
  oops, meant he is a CGA with a speciality in tax law not accounting.
  
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- RobertRyan on Feb 17, 2014
  
  @Lou_BC "what he needs to put heavy emphasis upon quality and durability. Fiat, Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, and Jeep are not known as being reliable or durable products. The ‘F’ix ‘I’T ‘A’gain ‘T’ony stigma needs to be removed from all of its brands for the company to advance ahead of the other players." The build quality has improved, but realiability? big question mark. Read a road test of a 3 V6 diesel Grand Cherokee in Australia. Ride handling very good, but turn the air conditioning on, the engine started to overheat. The other Jeep/Chrysler products not so good.
  
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FJ60LandCruiser on Feb 17, 2014

"How to get the US Taxpayers to finance a corporate takeover--then take the profits overseas and laugh all the way to the bank." -lecture series by Sergio "Il Duce" Marchionne. When Chrysler is a bankrupt husk in 10 years, the money's in Italy, the resources and engineering stripped of everything that Daimler didn't already take with them, I wonder if President Hillary will order another bailout... ...or have we learned our lesson by now?

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- VCplayer on Feb 17, 2014
  
  I think the European operations are more likely to be dead in 10 years than the American ones. If the US can reform their corporate tax law there's a good chance the money all ends up over here too. That or Brazil. That said though, I can't imagine Chrysler EVER getting bailed out again.
  
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- RobertRyan on Feb 17, 2014
  
  You are right a lot will eventually flow to prop up the Motherland, cannot see how that will not happen.
  
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- Lou_BC on Feb 17, 2014
  
  @FJ60LandCruiser - actually............. FCA head office will be the Netherlands with the tax base in England...... so.......... all of those billions will end up in a British bank. So much for those upstart colonies ;)
  
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Schmitt trigger on Feb 17, 2014

HighDesertCat; I've a question for you from your statement: "Radar/Laser detectors are useless for NM since the cops use timing marks on the road and along the road." My daughter lives in El Paso but will be doing a project for Holloman AFB for the next year. So, she will be traveling along US54 for a while. How do the timing marks work? What should one have to watch out for?

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- Danio3834 on Feb 17, 2014
  
  Usually marks on the pavement are used in conjuction with aircraft surveillance. The plane times vehicles between marks, then radios down to a cruiser. Not a very efficient method of enforcement, it's mostly used as a threat on signage.
  
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- Sals on Feb 17, 2014
  
  From KOB Albuquerque 11/10/2013: 4 On Your Side found that the state has been telling a lie. Its signs, reading, “Speed monitored by aircraft,” have been obsolete for roughly 20 years...“We think they serve as a speed deterrent,” Melissa Dosher, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Department of Transportation said. She said there are 12 signs still posted around the state. Four are on Interstate 25 near Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Dosher said New Mexico State Police used speed-monitoring aircraft in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but said there is no record of when – if ever – the agency asked NMDOT to take down the signs. State police confirmed that officers use a helicopter for search and rescue efforts, but not for speed enforcement any longer. Link: http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s3214554.shtml
  
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- Highdesertcat on Feb 17, 2014
  
  schmitt trigger, going North/South on US54 from El Paso there are normally two NM State cop cars that patrol between Alamogordo and the TX border, along with the Sheriff Department who can also write citations to speeders. No city cops until you get to the outskirts of Alamogordo and then West on US70 toward Holloman. All patrols normally do loops, which means they loop back and give chase to a victim, and then do the same thing in the opposite direction, until they complete their shift. Whenever I'm out, I see them busily writing tickets along the road. On US70 East/West there are also usually two NM State cop cars doing loops between Alamogordo and Las Cruces, along with the Sheriff Dept to the Dona Ana County line. A typical patrol may incorporate both routes as there are State Police posts in both Alamogordo and Las Cruces. So a patrol may start in Las Cruces, go East on US70, then South on US54, cut over to Chaparal and then catch I-25 North back to Las Cruces. And vice versa, of course. They also patrol in the other directions. But the speed limit is clearly marked on both US54 and US70, being 75mph on both on the most deserted stretches. I normally cruise at 5-10 over when I can and they leave me alone, but it is very easy to get up to over 100mph on those stretches, and many people do. The 18-wheelers normally cruise at 85mph but they have an active alert system among themselves and still use CB channel 9 and 19 to warn other drivers of impending speed traps. I still have a CB system in all my vehicles, along with a cell phone and a Garmin. The timing markers on the side of the road are not readily recognized because they're on posts between the milemarkers, but there are also big white stripes on the pavement in certain areas where people are prone to go faster than allowed, i.e South of Oro Grande and South of Boles Acres. Speedlimit in Oro Grande is 35mph, down from 75mph. The NMSCC State Cops also patrol those two Highways but they usually just chase 18-wheelers or respond as backup to emergencies like crashes, along with the US Border Patrol. The surveillance by air is normally limited to I-25 and I-40 and their offshoots but they communicate with the road patrols and can be heard on most analog Bearcat Scanners when within range. But we have seen a NM State Police helicopter flying over both US54 and I-25 South of Las Cruces. Clearly marked and in full view for everyone to see. Your daughter should not have any difficulty going up US54 for 68 miles into NM and then turning left on US70 where 54 and 70 meet, to head West on 70 to Holloman. Again, clearly marked, six lane highway to Holloman. And if she comes from the West side of El Paso, where my daughter lives, she may want to shortcut over Trans Mountain and catch US54 going North from there, rather than looping North on I-25 and catching US70 East at Las Cruces, with the possibility of US70 being closed in the White Sands Missile Range area for Missile testing. That can ruin anyone's day. The caveat here is remembering that if you have out of state plates you are fair game in the The Land of Entrapment. Hey, we're a poor state. We take any and all donations to the State Kitty. If in doubt, stick to the speed limit or keep up with traffic so as not to get run over by speeding 18-wheelers. That's why I accelerate with WOT when entering US54 from my side road.
  
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