FCA Merger With GM Too Good to Pass Up: Marchionne
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne still believes GM should, at the very least, listen to his pitch for a possible merger.
General Motors has showed little to no interest in a possible merger and hasn’t agreed to meet with Marchionne to even discuss the matter. In a recent interview with Automotive News, Marchionne spoke openly and candidly at the possibility of a merger and its benefits, not just to FCA, but to GM as well. “We’re not talking about marginal improvement in margins,” said Marchionne. “We’re talking about cataclysmic changes in performance, just huge.”
The CEO claims he’s gone through “product by product, plant by plant, area by area,” and believes that the two companies combined would make $30 billion a year in cash.
SEE ALSO: Marchionne Tries to Merge with GM
But the problem is, GM isn’t even picking up the phone, despite Marchionne offering to sit down and show them the numbers. “You may reject the deal, but you can’t reject the discussion,” he added. “If you’re refusing to talk to me, and you have seen nothing, you either think you’re above it all, or you think the capital markets are full of schmucks that owe you something.”
[Source: Automotive News]
Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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Poor Sergio. No one will write him a check so he can go home before the next economic slump destroys FCA.
Funny no-one seems to remember the Daimler-Chrysler "friendly" merger. Ummm, right. Where MBs quality dropped in free-fall faster than the stock market and Chrysler got marginally better. Maybe. Now we have FCA, with the Fiat 500 at the very bottom of the reliability charts and GM, who is lighting the world on fire. Whats Lincoln got thats even in the same galaxy as the ATS-V and CTS-V? And then what, a Chrysler 300 competitor? Hemi. Dont make me laugh. The CTS-V will do 200MPH. In a Caddy. Yup. And tuned at the Nurburgring. That shows GM is SERIOUS. This potential merger would prob be the biggest mistake in the history of automobiles, at least for GM. Maybe Fiat would learn how to shed "Fix It Again Tony". Maybe.