Alfa Romeo, on the other hand....
Posted on 04/23/2015 9:36:15 AM PDT by Olog-hai
General Motors CEO Mary Barra is dismissing any talk of a possible merger with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. […]
Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne recently floated the idea of merging with GM or another global automaker. He is a proponent of industry consolidation and says only the biggest automakers will survive. …
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
I thought they merged together when the government took control
Translation: It’s in the works.
BINGO!
Undoubtedly.
And there goes that old euphemism for centralization, “industry consolidation”.
Why that French company? Because that company is contemplating returning back to the USA market, and with a merger with Fiat Chrysler, that may make it easier to certify Peugeot and Citroën models for US sale.
The upside: it’d end up giving GM a more Americanized lineup that has gone lacking in the past few years. Getting a proper, higher-displacement V6 for under $30k is at least doable with Chrysler - but not with GM or Ford.
The downside: If GM buys up Chrysler, rampant environmentalism will kill off the last alternative to eurotrash (the I4+turbo).
EXACTLY! On Allpar.com, Jalopnik.com and a few other auto sites both GM AND FORD have denied a possible link up with FCA.
Something is up.
First Jeep is owned by the French. Then the Germans, then the Italians, and now possibly the French AND Italians?
Well, at least it explains the new “Cherokee” ...
FIAT = Fix It Again, Tony
You are correct...nobody wants a FIAT (Fix It Again Tony)...
Peugeot/Citroen would probably fair OK in the US market.
Fiat, in the 1990s....got around to correcting a lot of their designs. I won’t say it’s perfect, but they are a lot better than they were noted in the 1970s.
As for this gamesmanship going on....all of this leads to the EU-US trade treaty underway, and the US needs some type of inside door on getting US car sales into Europe....but the fear is valid that the French, Italian and German companies are desperately trying to get their feet into a decent US market.
Alfa Romeo, on the other hand....
Renault wasn’t good the first time around, and this company isn’t any better for their environmentally-mandated automotive engineering. Like Ford, they fake engine audio to make up for the lack of a proper-displacement engine. If that wasn’t enough, they seem to design cars that make the Pontiac Aztek look good.
If I wanted an overpowered lawnmower, I would buy one.
Had a friend with a FIAT sedan back in the early 80’s. The TOPS of the door panels rusted though. The bottoms were fine.
That little Fiat two-seater with the engine in the rear....was a bomb. The cooling tubes ran from the radiator in the front, under the seating to the engine. They’d get all rusted and start leaking. It was a bad design and really got some enthusiasts going negative on Fiat for decades.
Saved me a post : )
Fiat may have fixed it’s problems in the 1990’s...but for the US market it was too late. It’s reputation was cemented, and continues today. They may every well be fine cars at the lower end of the price scale, but buyers are brand loyal and you won’t see Fiat or Renault do well in the US markets
For all of their advertizing push I see damned few Fiat branded cars on the road.
I personally like Sergio Marchionne, but why would he want to be involved with the disaster that is GM makes little sense to me. He’s worked too hard to revive Chrysler and Jeep to watch GM flush them down the toilet, IMHO.
Why wouldn’t he, if he’s all for “industry consolidation” (i.e. against competition, and hence a crony corporate type)? He’s got the European Union on his side in this matter; they certainly want to grab up and centralize all they can.
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