Fiat Planning to Sell-Off Ferrari to Finance Further Chrysler Ownership
Fiat is considering a partial sale of Ferrari in order to finance further ownership of U.S. automaker Chrysler. As insane as the idea is of selling some of what might just be the best and one of the most profitable automakers in the world in order to purchase a further stake in one of those held in the lowest esteem and with some of the largest financial hurdles, that is reportedly the case according to Il Corriere della Sera, an Italian daily newspaper.
Fiat has denied the reports, but the paper’s sources inside the company hint at the truth, indicating that it might take such a drastic move in order to achieve a controlling 51 percent share in Chrysler. Ferrari is said to be worth $3.1 billion and would still say in Fiat’s hands thanks to a 51 percent ownership.
Currently Fiat owns 20 percent of Chrysler but is expected to increase that amount to 35 percent once it meets certain restructuring regulations laid our by the U.S. treasury.
Fiat’s interest in Chrysler extends beyond the scope of the actual company with Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne eager to secure his company in the North American marketplace.
[Source: MSNBC]
With AutoGuide from its launch, Colum previously acted as Editor-in-Chief of Modified Luxury & Exotics magazine where he became a certifiable car snob driving supercars like the Koenigsegg CCX and racing down the autobahn in anything over 500 hp. He has won numerous automotive journalism awards including the Best Video Journalism Award in 2014 and 2015 from the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Colum founded Geared Content Studios, VerticalScope's in-house branded content division and works to find ways to integrate brands organically into content.
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If thats true, I would say that would be the most daring and bold (wrong) decision that Fiat is gonna make. Fiat is known to take bold and risky decisions and this is no surprise either. But Ferrari is always, I mean always a profitable company and selling it off is a very wrong move and also its kinda symbol for any one who owns it. On the other hand selling it to own a shaky and poorly reputed company (atleast for the last few years) doesnt sound right to me.
Chrysler was firing on all cylinders when Iacocca was in control. Then the "merger of equals" strangled Chrysler and Cerberus closed in for the kill. Chrysler didn't falter on it's own, but due to the intentional effort by Daimler to deplete and dump Chrysler. With proper management, Chrysler will rise again. I think Sergio sees this.