Fix It Again Tony...
Posted on 11/24/2016 5:30:57 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
CASSINO, Nov 25 — President-elect Donald Trump’s critical stance toward free trade could affect Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s business in North America, according to the Italian automaker’s chief executive officer Sergio Marchionne.
Trump’s election “certainly is a game changer, mainly because I think that there are a number of conditions in the US which are not yet spelled out,” Marchionne told Bloomberg Television at an Alfa Romeo plant in Cassino, Italy.
Statements Trump has made about trade are “a big issue” because of the North American Free Trade Agreement’s impact on Fiat’s operations in the US, Mexico and Canada.
Trump frequently slammed Nafta during his campaign, describing it as the worst deal ever and blaming it for US job losses. The President-elect has singled out Ford Motor Co for making cars in Mexico and has called for imposing a 35 per cent tariff on products made by companies that move their production from the US to other countries.
Since 2010, nine global automakers, including General Motors Co, Ford and and Fiat have announced more than US$24 billion (RM106.6 billion) in Mexican investments.
Fiat, which generates the lion’s share of its profits in North America, assembled about 17 per cent of all the vehicles it made in that region in Mexico in the first 10 months, according to Kevin Tynan, Bloomberg Industry senior analyst. Almost all of those cars were sold in the US and Canada.
“The company would incur hefty costs if the Trump administration is able to enact a 35 per cent levy on vehicles and parts imported into the US,” Tynan said.
Marchionne warned in June that a Trump victory could impact the carmaker’s production options in North America, depending on the way he manages Nafta and whether he supports protectionist views. The Fiat CEO said he hasn’t spoken with Trump but will work with the new administration.
The change in US leadership is not only impacting carmakers’ trade prospects. Fiat shares have gained 14 per cent since the Nov 8 vote, with a jump three days later after Trump chose a prominent climate change skeptic to lead his Environmental Protection Agency transition team.
That fuelled speculation that the new administration may loosen fuel-economy rules, which would benefit makers of conventional engines. In addition, gains by the US dollar since the election are positive for Fiat, Marchionne said.
Fiat stock rose 1.5 per cent at 5.22pm in Milan trading to €7.30 (RM34.23). — Bloomberg
So Fiat can sell Chrysler to a US owner who might turn the quality around. Won’t buy Chrysler now.
The only modern era Mopar I’d have is the Challenger.
An original Challenger is a bit out of my budget.....
Tip, Fiat, now’s a GREAT time into looking for a new campus location in the US for a factory before everyone else comes running.
Free trade is a one-page document.
A 20,000 page “free trade agreement” is 20,000 pages of exceptions to free trade and special deals for special people.
We need to reduce emission standards and fuel consumption nonsense with haste!! We have the greatest oil reserves in the world in the wolfcamp in Texas!! We need much simpler cars that we can work on and we need less OSHA crap. Let my people work!! If you will design an owner friendly car that we can fix ourselves you will rocket to success.
Fix It Again Tony...
That was my take after plowing through two THICK books that described NAFTA. When that pact was being discussed, only a few colleges in each state had complete copies. I was working in Macon, GA at the time and visited Mercer University and spent many hours there.
All in all, it read pretty good - until you got to the last few chapters where there were "amendments" which gutted everything previously written. One item that stuck in my mind was that Mexico could ship any size engine up here, but we were limited to such small cubic capacities that anything larger than a lawnmower's was prohibited.
Then a new hemi is, too.
What’s wrong with Fiat is Marchionne. Nothing President Trump can do to fix that.
This.
I hope so. If not, the Chrysler brand will join Oldsmobile, Mercury, Plymouth, etc. in the automotive graveyard in the not too distant future. They are down to two models - the Chrysler 300, and the Pacifica minivan. (Production of the mid size Chrysler 200 ends next month.) That's not much of a lineup. The Dodge division is starving for new/updated products. I can see Fiat phasing Dodge out as well, then selling off the Jeep and Ram divisions to somebody else as they abandon the U.S. market completely.
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