{"id":58866,"date":"2013-03-06T02:41:43","date_gmt":"2013-03-06T07:41:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=58866"},"modified":"2013-03-06T02:41:43","modified_gmt":"2013-03-06T07:41:43","slug":"marchionne-wants-to-complete-fiatchrysler-merger-asap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2013\/03\/marchionne-wants-to-complete-fiatchrysler-merger-asap\/","title":{"rendered":"Marchionne Wants to Complete Fiat\/Chrysler Merger ASAP"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Fiat\/Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne sits on a new LaFerrari during the supercar's Geneva preview. Ferrari Pres. Luca di Montezemelo is in the background.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of both Fiat and Chrysler, wants to finish merging the two companies as soon as possible \u2013 though other shareholders may make that a difficult task to complete without first taking the U.S. maker public.<\/p>\n

During a news conference marking the first day of media previews at the Geneva Motor Show, meanwhile, Marchionne offered up a glum assessment for the worsening crisis the auto industry is facing in Europe, concluding he does not see a \u201cglimmer of hope\u201d for a turnaround in the market this year.<\/p>\n

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Feed Your Need for News!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Shortly after Fiat took control of Chrysler, following the American maker\u2019s emergence from bankruptcy in 2009, it appeared likely there would ultimately be a public stock offering. Marchionne has repeatedly delayed that move and now says he\u2019d like to skip it entirely, telling reporters in Geneva \u201cIt\u2019s the right thing to bring these two organizations together,\u201d and suggesting Fiat has the \u201cavailability of funding to try and close this transaction\u201d in short order.<\/p>\n

Whether Chrysler\u2019s other stockholder will agree is another matter entirely. The 41.5% stake that Fiat does not now own is in the hands of the United Auto Workers Union\u2019s Retiree Medical Benefits Trust, generally referred to as a VEBA. The two sides have been in a debate over the value of the UAW\u2019s holdings and the final decision is likely now up to a Chancery Court in Delaware, where Chrysler is registered, to decide.<\/p>\n

Marchionne has said he\u2019d still be willing to work out a settlement, and it is not clear how soon the judge will decide on the stock valuation, if necessary.<\/p>\n

That ruling could create problems, according to some observers, if it sets the value too high. As it struggles in Europe to overcome the setbacks of the recession, Fiat is reportedly burning through significant cash, though Marchionne told reporters in Geneva \u201cWe\u2019ve always been able to raise funds at reasonable rates,\u201d if it becomes necessary to finance the merger with Chrysler.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe plans remain unchanged\u201d to merge the two companies, the executive stressed. If anything, it appears the European crisis is further encouraging the goal of \u201cinternationalizing\u201d the joint manufacturing base.<\/p>\n

In the end, Marchionne wants to freely link the global operations of Fiat and Chrysler, and focus on a handful of brands that can be sold around the world, emphasizing Jeep, Fiat and Alfa Romeo, along with the virtually autonomous Ferrari and Maserati.<\/p>\n

The rationalization should improve economies of scale, the executive contends, and better utilize manufacturing operations.<\/p>\n

Like its competitors, Fiat is struggling in Europe. The market slipped by roughly 1 million units last year, to its lowest level since 1996. And it is now plunging even faster than already gloomy analysts had predicted for 2013. On Tuesday, Renault\/Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said that at the current rate, the market could slide another 5% to 8% this year.<\/p>\n

(Ghosn frets it could take “years” to revive the European car market. <\/em>Click Here<\/span><\/a>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

For his part, Marchionne clearly agrees.\u00a0 He told reports \u201cI don\u2019t see any glimmer of hope this year,\u201d adding his expectation for a particularly \u201crough\u201d first quarter.<\/p>\n

Both Marchionne and Ghosn warned that political uncertainty \u2013 and the subsequent instability among consumers \u2013 is further weakening the European economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fiat\/Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne told reporters in Geneva he does not see “a glimmer of hope” for a turnaround in Europe this year. Meanwhile, Marchionne also said he wants to complete the merger of the two companies ASAP. More from TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58855,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[151],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58866"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58866"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=58866"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=58866"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=58866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}