#Merger

Regulators may rain on Elio’s parade even before they got started.

That, Volvo takes a serious stab at full-size luxury conventional wisdom, the big get bigger and Ford’s hybrids only go so far … after the break!

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles chief Sergio Marchionne told Bloomberg on Monday that his company likely wouldn’t merge with another automaker before his tenure is up in 2018.

The chief executive publicly courted General Motors in 2015 to merge two of the Big Three. GM CEO Mary Barra publicly refuted that partnership, and Marchionne seems to have gotten the hint.

“I met Mary Barra less than a month ago in Washington,” Marchionne told Bloomberg. “I don’t think I will have another coffee with her. It won’t happen again in the future.”

Farmers are the ultimate craftsman when it comes to small-scale production. The level of management needed to stay competitive and above the high water line is, simply put, astounding. Consolidation in certain areas of agriculture has lead to factory farming, the widespread adoption of automation and genetically modified seeds that keep seed producers competitive. Private farmers are constantly at war with the market and their own budgets.

The agriculture industry has wholly transformed itself over the last 100 years. The automotive industry, which has only really existed for that same period of time, has seen similar levels of change. We are now building more cars, trucks, SUVs, crossovers, trikes and quadracycles than ever before, just like we are growing more food than we’ve ever seen in human history.

But, there’s one major stumbling block ahead — and Sergio Marchionne sees it.

New Honda CEO Takahiro Hachigo told media Monday that the automaker wouldn’t aim for a specific global sales figure to drive growth and would be open to partnerships with other automakers, Automotive News reported.

The speech also emphasized sharing global manufacturing resources within Honda’s six regional divisions and to create “challenging products.” (Which may or may not — probably not — mean “Challenger.”)

Sergio Marchionne sent Mary Barra a detailed email in the middle of March in an effort to start merger talks. Barra, CEO of General Motors, was uninterested in the offer and rebuffed Marchionne, CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

It was the first time the two executives had ever spoken, but it wouldn’t be the last Barra would hear of Marchionne’s merger desires.

That’s the story being told by the New York Times today, detailing the lengths to which Marchionne is going to trigger consolidation within the automotive industry.

Despite repeated denials from all parties, I’ve yet to give up on the idea that V olkswagen and FCA will eventually come together in an, ahem, Auto Union of sorts. Tim Cain’s chart shows us why there are synergies for both parties.

Ratings firm Fitch released a memo Tuesday outlining some possible problems relating to the proposed GM-PSA merger.

Or was it GM that proposed? “General Motors Co. Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner secretly proposed a merger with Ford Motor Co. in 2008, a year before GM’s bankruptcy filing, the New York Times reported.” That explosive revelation is made today by Bloomberg. And OMG, Rick Wagoner turned down the deal! Isn’t anything secret sacred anymore?

Of course, TTAC goes straight to the source. Here it is! In the New York Times!

A lot of people assume Porsche and Volkswagen have long been united. Well they kind of are. They make cars together. They share management. Winterkorn is also Boss of Porsche SE. Former Volkswagen strategist Matthias Müller is now CEO of Porsche. Go to any tradeshow: Porsche is where Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, Skoda, Bugatti etc. are. Porsche and Volkswagen are united in everything but the final signature. And that may wait a little longer.

Generally speaking, official prospectus information tends to run on the alarmist side, warning investors of any and all possible problems, regardless of how likely they are to take place. Which is why you rarely see news organizations like Reuters pick up on prospectus warnings, like today’s story on a Volkswagen warning that its merger with Porsche could be scuttled by lawsuits filed by angry hedge funds. Porsche’s notorious “short squeeze” of hedge funds who were speculating on VW stock in the leadup to its planned takeover has drawn lawsuits in several countries which, according to VW’s recent capital increase prospectus, could:

The Geneva Auto Show is a great place to rub elbows, show concept cars, and plant or shoot down rumors. BMW yesterday dismissed the view that premium carmakers would have to consolidate. This here is in the latter category.

BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer said that BMW would not merge with Daimler. Or anybody else for that matter. Now who had that crazy idea? Apparently, it’s going around.

A few days ago, TTAC reported that PSA and Mitsubishi were looking to forge closer ties with either a cross holding format, like Renault-Nissan, or by PSA taking a 30-50 percent stake in Mitsubishi. According to Bloomberg, analysts like Oppenheim’s Jens Schattner are ruling out equity acquisitions, saying the two firms should concentrate more on co-operation. “Peugeot doesn’t have the liquidity to take a major Mitsubishi stake in cash” he says, and he’s not the only one splashing cold water on the hook-up. Eric-Alain Michelis, an analyst at Societe Generale adds that PSA may have to issue new shares to pay for that stake in Mitsubishi they want, which will not please the Peugeot family as it will dilute their holding. Otherwise, “raising the finance would not be a walk in the park,” he reminds. Were PSA to issue shares to cover €1 billion of the $3.7billion needed for a 50% stake in Mitsubishi Motors, it would reduce the Peugeot family’s investment to 25%. Quelle horror!