As reported earlier, Fiat’s new baby is quickly becoming Brazilians’ new darling. But that was perception. Now cold hard numbers are coming in, and believe it or not, the new Uno is being adopted at record rates. Widely-read Brazilian car site Webmotors cites numbers of the Brazilian Motor Vehicles Distribution Federation Fenabrave. According to the official count, the new Uno, launched but a week ago, is already creating havoc with Brazilian car sales rankings. (Read More…)
As non-executive vice-chairman of the Swiss bank UBS, Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has deep connections with the European banking community. Now, under threat of losing its primary lender Ally Financial to GM’s dreams of a return to in-house, subprime lending, Marchionne has leveraged that experience into a non-prime lending deal with a US division of Spain’s Banco Santander. Automotive News [sub] reports that Santander and Chrysler have reached a deal to provide loans to Chrysler customers with sub-650 credit scores that ChryCo reckons could result in an additional 2,000 sales each month.
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A good old friend is coming back to China: The Jeep. Guangzhou Automobile Group Co (GAC) is expected to produce Chrysler’s Jeep at its Changsha-based joint venture with Fiat, Gasgoo reports. (Read More…)
Got up bright and early this beautiful chilly morning. The sun is out and there are no clouds in the blue autumn sky. (Get used to it. It’s autumn in Brazil.) Reminds me again of some American friends, who say that a trip to Brazil is worth it just to see the sky. Anyway, the plan is to hit the dealer at opening time and check out all the hype surrounding the new Uno. As luck would have it… (Read More…)
Together with record breaking sales, April brings another surprise to Brazil. VW über alles! Bring out the warm beer and fried sausages, let’s party like it’s the 90s and 80s and 70s and 60s again! VeeDub on top! Not so fast. It depends how you look at it … (Read More…)
Fiat doesn’t need other partners. We have a strong relationship with Chrysler and that is what we are actively working on
Fiat’s new Chairman, John Elkann, told shareholder’s in his family company Exor, exactly what every good, newlywed husband would say. Then again, not every husband had, shall we say, the appetite for partners that pre-Chrysler Fiat had. Just ask GM. Or BMW. Or Tata. Or Sollers. Or Zastava. Or SEAT. Or, you get the picture. Literally.
Back in February, we took note of Chrysler’s “principled” stand on new-product secrecy, concluding:
Let’s face it: Chrysler needs buzz, hype, awareness, some kind of excitement surrounding its future generally and its forthcoming products in specific (if only in the irritating “teaser” format) almost as much as it needs anything else. Because as things stand right now,the baseline perception of Chrysler is of a dying company with nothing to offer. In this light, Chrysler’s principled rejection of hype is far more likely to be interpreted as keeping rushed semi-refreshes under wraps so they won’t be mocked to death by the time they go on sale. If that’s not the case, Chrysler has nothing to lose and everything to gain by building consumer awareness of new products. If it is, well, the truth will out sooner or later.
And apparently we’re not the only ones who think so. In fact, if the Detroit News is to be believed, literally everyone seems to think that Chrysler needs to start being more open, not only about its forthcoming products, but at every level of its business. (Read More…)
John Steel, 42. Resident Nurburgring hotlapper, amateur race driver and menace of all slow moving objects. On weekends, he likes thrashing his Porsche 997 Mark II GT3-RS around the local track. Karen Levy, 25. Professional mall stormer, party queen and dedicated student. Enjoys a fine café-latte by the Mediterranean Sea and the gentle spring breeze while driving her Fiat 500C.
Two people, two separate sides of the automotive equilibrium. This time, driving around the peaceful and slow moving streets of southern Tel Aviv, amongst buzzing restaurants and overcrowded coffee shops, I get to explore the latter. Meet the Fiat 500C: the open-air sibling of the 500 retro car, and an inevitable win of form over function.
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Much of the speculation in the leadup to Fiat’s five year plan announcement centered on a long-rumored spin-off of Fiat’s auto business from the rest of the industrial conglomerate. Speculators even drove up Fiat’s share price considerably yesterday on hopes that the long-awaited spin-off would be announced today. And sure enough, Fiat did announce today that it would be spinning off part of its business. The only problem, according to Automotive News [sub], is that the newly-formed unit isn’t made up of Fiat, Alfa and Lancia, but Iveco and New Case Holland. Instead of its car operations, Fiat is bundling off its heavy commercial truck and tractor business into a new entity known as Fiat Industrial S.p.A. (Fiat-branded light commercial vehicles and Fiat Powertrain will remain behind).
The last ten years have not been kind to Fiat’s Alfa-Romeo brand, as 2009 sales levels fell to about half their 2000 volumes. Having put Alfa on “strategic review” and stuffed it into a “brand channel” with Maserati and Abarth, CEO Sergio Marchionne has had a change of heart, and is now “determined” to build the brand into a “full-line premium carmaker.” According to Automotive News [sub]’s coverage of Fiat’s five year plan presentation, that means committing to a US presence targeting 85,000 annual sales by 2014. For a sense of scale, the Alfa brand sold a grand total of 103,000 units globally last year. And Alfa is going to have to kick ass around the world to meet Sergio’s goals. By the time Marchionne expects American Alfisti to buy 85k units each year, he wants the brand’s global sales to have increased nearly five-fold to half a million units. Ambitious doesn’t even begin to describe it…
Given Ferrari’s pricing politics, it seems safe to assume that Ferrari/Maserati is a fairly profitable enterprise for its 85 percent owner, Fiat. Indeed, with over $2.5b in combined revenues last year and an 11.5 percent operating margin, the Italian sportscar brands aren’t exactly dying of economic downturn-related causes. But at today’s presentation of Fiat’s five year plan, CEO Sergio Marchionne revealed that his firm has big plans for Ferrari/Maserati, and gave unprecedented planning details as proof of the brands’ path towards even greater profitability.
Let's carry out the five year plan in 4 years! Picture courtesy nhikmetran at flickr.com
Today is the day. Today, Sergio Marchionne will present his 5 year plan for Fiat. 5 year plans are usually reserved for a reunion of unreformed communist party elders. But Fiat respects traditional values.
In his opening remarks, Marchionne took a shot at the mongers of gloom and doom. He had two words for analyst reports that dissed Chrysler’s operating profits: “Boulevard press.” This is Euro-slang for tabloids, or the business section of the National Enquirer.
“As we all know,” said Sergio, “in business it is ultimately only facts that prevail.”
Then, the facts were presented. (Read More…)
Be extra careful when you read Bloomberg this morning. It will make you think you had one too many last night. The financial news service reports that Chrysler posted a $143 million operating profit in the first quarter,“after cutting costs and introducing a big pickup.” It’s a miracle alright. (Read More…)
Analysts will have a lot of uncomfortable questions tomorrow when Chrysler reports post-bankruptcy financial results, while Fiat unveils “la strategia grande” domani in Italy. They will finally unveil their long-awaited 5 year plan.
According to Reuters, “more questions than answers could still remain about Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne’s turnaround strategy.” The most uncomforting question will be: “Are you sure?” (Read More…)
Fiat Chairman Luca Cordero Di Montezemolo will be leaving the firm to pursue a career in Italian politics, according to Automotive News [sub]. Montezemolo will remain on Fiat’s board, and will continue to serve as chairman of Ferrari, but he will be replaced atop the Fiat empire by vice-chairman and Agnelli family heir John Elkann. Fiat’s shares rallied considerably this morning, according to Bloomberg Businessweek, but not because Montezemolo is on the way out. Rather, Fiat has finally announced the news that speculators have been waiting patiently for: the firm now confirms that it plans to spin off its auto business.
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