Here's a gist of FCA's future financial doom problems
Copied and pasted AP article dated 5-31-2015 tells it quite clearly:
Chrysler's future remains uncertain as CEO looks to consolidate
Sergio-Marchionne-FCA-five-year-plan-2014
Chrysler Group LLC Chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne speaks to investors at the automaker's world headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich., Tuesday, May 6, 2014. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV unveiled its business strategy for the next five years as it prepares for life as a newly merged company. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) ( (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio))
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Rick Haglund By Rick Haglund
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on May 31, 2015 at 7:00 AM, updated May 31, 2015 at 7:05 AM
Here we go again. Maybe.
Chrysler is on a roll. The Auburn Hills automaker has posted sales increases for 60-plus months straight. Its Jeep and Ram truck brands are among the hottest in the industry. And the company is profitable.
But Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne has set off a sharp alarm about the company's future.
He's telling anyone who will listen that the auto industry must consolidate because it's using too much capital to develop new vehicles and on duplicative technologies to meet upcoming fuel economy regulations.
The New York Times reported last week that Marchionne sent a private email in March to General Motors Corp. CEO Mary Barra, offering to sell FCA to GM. But the offer was rebuffed.
Marchionne is sounding a lot like one of his predecessors, former Chrysler CEO Bob Eaton, who similarly warned that the automaker's future was in jeopardy as an independent company.
That was back in 1997, when Chrysler was selling Jeeps and minivans as fast as it could build them and churning out record profits.
But Eaton saw that Chrysler faced an uncertain future. It had little business outside of the slow-growing North American market. And like today, Eaton questioned whether Chrysler could continue to afford investments needed to refresh its products and meet future federal regulations.
He found a marriage partner in German automaker Daimler-Benz that led to a spectacular divorce, a contributing factor in Chrysler's 2009 bankruptcy.
Marchionne's problem is that he can't find anyone who's attracted to FCA.
"What GM or some other larger company has to gain from merging with Fiat Chrysler is not clear to me," Michelle Krebs, director of automotive relations at AutoTrader.com, said in an email.
While Chrysler is posting sales records, it is not nearly as profitable as GM and Ford Motor Co. And Fiat faces a variety of troubles, including outdated factories.
That will make it difficult for Marchionne to keep up with those companies and other major automakers in making future product investments.
"He has a huge development bill to pay in order to update his products and rejuvenate brands that do not fare well in the minds of consumers or are just unknown," analyst Alan Baum said in an email.
Marchionne "comes at this process from weakness and as the economy/auto market declines, even modestly, he will be in a weaker position," Baum said.
Veteran Forbes autowriter Joann Muller last week said that Volkswagen probably is the only viable merger partner for FCA, although there would be significant hurdles to a deal.
But such a hookup would likely result in Volkswagen killing the Chrysler and Dodge brands, she wrote. That would threaten thousands of good-paying jobs in Michigan.
And it might not sit well with U.S. and Michigan taxpayers who contributed billions of dollars to save Chrysler jobs just six years ago.
Chrysler's future remains uncertain as CEO looks to consolidate
Sergio-Marchionne-FCA-five-year-plan-2014
Chrysler Group LLC Chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne speaks to investors at the automaker's world headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich., Tuesday, May 6, 2014. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV unveiled its business strategy for the next five years as it prepares for life as a newly merged company. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) ( (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio))
PrintEmail
Rick Haglund By Rick Haglund
Follow on Twitter
on May 31, 2015 at 7:00 AM, updated May 31, 2015 at 7:05 AM
Here we go again. Maybe.
Chrysler is on a roll. The Auburn Hills automaker has posted sales increases for 60-plus months straight. Its Jeep and Ram truck brands are among the hottest in the industry. And the company is profitable.
But Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne has set off a sharp alarm about the company's future.
He's telling anyone who will listen that the auto industry must consolidate because it's using too much capital to develop new vehicles and on duplicative technologies to meet upcoming fuel economy regulations.
The New York Times reported last week that Marchionne sent a private email in March to General Motors Corp. CEO Mary Barra, offering to sell FCA to GM. But the offer was rebuffed.
Marchionne is sounding a lot like one of his predecessors, former Chrysler CEO Bob Eaton, who similarly warned that the automaker's future was in jeopardy as an independent company.
That was back in 1997, when Chrysler was selling Jeeps and minivans as fast as it could build them and churning out record profits.
But Eaton saw that Chrysler faced an uncertain future. It had little business outside of the slow-growing North American market. And like today, Eaton questioned whether Chrysler could continue to afford investments needed to refresh its products and meet future federal regulations.
He found a marriage partner in German automaker Daimler-Benz that led to a spectacular divorce, a contributing factor in Chrysler's 2009 bankruptcy.
Marchionne's problem is that he can't find anyone who's attracted to FCA.
"What GM or some other larger company has to gain from merging with Fiat Chrysler is not clear to me," Michelle Krebs, director of automotive relations at AutoTrader.com, said in an email.
While Chrysler is posting sales records, it is not nearly as profitable as GM and Ford Motor Co. And Fiat faces a variety of troubles, including outdated factories.
That will make it difficult for Marchionne to keep up with those companies and other major automakers in making future product investments.
"He has a huge development bill to pay in order to update his products and rejuvenate brands that do not fare well in the minds of consumers or are just unknown," analyst Alan Baum said in an email.
Marchionne "comes at this process from weakness and as the economy/auto market declines, even modestly, he will be in a weaker position," Baum said.
Veteran Forbes autowriter Joann Muller last week said that Volkswagen probably is the only viable merger partner for FCA, although there would be significant hurdles to a deal.
But such a hookup would likely result in Volkswagen killing the Chrysler and Dodge brands, she wrote. That would threaten thousands of good-paying jobs in Michigan.
And it might not sit well with U.S. and Michigan taxpayers who contributed billions of dollars to save Chrysler jobs just six years ago.
