Chairman Obama DOES have a familiar ring to it.
Posted on 01/01/2014 6:50:57 PM PST by DeaconBenjamin
Italian car manufacturer Fiat announced on Wednesday that it has reached an agreement to acquire the remaining shares of Chrysler for $3.65bn to a union-controlled trust fund.
Fiat already owns 58.5% of Chrysler's shares, with the remaining 41.5% held by a United Auto Workers trust fund that pays health care bills for retirees.
Under the deal, Fiat will make an initial payment of $1.9bn to the fund, plus an additional $1.75bn upon closing the deal.
Chrysler will also make additional payments totalling $700m to the fund as part of an agreement with the UAW. The deal is expected to close on or before 20 January, according to a statement from Chrysler.
Sergio Marchionne has long sought to acquire the union's shares in order to combine Fiat and Chrysler.
"The unified ownership structure will now allow us to fully execute our vision of creating a global automaker that is truly unique in terms of mix of experience, perspective and knowhow, a solid and open organisation," Marchionne said in a statement.
The deal eliminates the need for an initial public offering of the union fund's stake, which analysts had previously valued at $5.6bn.
Marchionne cannot spend Chrysler's cash on Fiat's operations unless the companies merge. In recent months he made it clear that he preferred to settle the dispute without an IPO, but filed the paperwork for the offering in September at the trust's request.
Chrysler's profits helped prop up Fiat's balance sheet as the Italian firm struggles in the depressed European market.
The Michigan-based car company earned $464 million in the third quarter on US sales of the Ram pickup and Jeep Grand Cherokee, its ninth straight profitable quarter. The results boosted Fiat, which earned $260m in the quarter. Without Chrysler's contribution, Fiat would have lost $340m.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
I looked at the window sticker on a Fiat at an auto show yesterday - built in Mexico with an Italian transmission and UAW-made engine. What could go wrong?
“You know the Strada is coming”
Looks like the 2nd coming of the Subaru Brat.
Chairman Obama DOES have a familiar ring to it.
Yep. People don't even see that it is happening.
I saw Lech Walesa speak once. He said one of the things that made it difficult for Soviet block nations to "leave" was that none of them MADE a thing. One might make SOME parts for a washing machine or a car or whatever but none of them fabricated something from end to end.
Well, X stands for experimental, 1 is for the 1 original engineer that designed it and 9 are for the 9 engineers who tried to fix the first guy's mistakes.
First In Automotive Trouble.
holy cow, post a link on that buggy
I was at the auto show last week and was impressed at the Honda hybrid sedan that got 47.
As far as I know, there is still a tariff of up to 25% on imported pickups.
It seems an older design, not easily alterable to US safety standards.
Anyone really think a little FRONT wheel drive pickup carrying NO load but still slower than a Prius, is going to sell carrying a price tag premium?
The VW Amarok would seem a much more likely candidate.
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