Skip to main content

Rumor: Volkswagen Group in Talks to Acquire Fiat Chrysler Says Germany’s Manager Magazin Reports

We were once told by a top executive at Audi that Germany’s Manager Magazin is where other top executives float ideas in the form of rumor. Whether or not then this means it is a floated idea or a line on actual happenings remains to be known, but a rumor this morning out of Germany is that the Volkswagen Group is looking to acquire Fiat and Chrysler.


On the surface, this sounds a bit far fetched and incredibly hard to manage. In addition to the Volkswagen Group owned brands of Audi, Ducati, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, MAN, Scania, SEAT, Skoda and Volkswagen, this could potentially add in Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Fiat, Lancia, Maserati, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram.


Why do such a thing? German automotive industry magazine AutoZeitung suggests it would be to both bolster the company’s American sales base and also give it a further foothold in commercial truck business. Could those Volkswagen Commercial, MAN and Scania trucks be sold as Rams?


Ferdinand Piech has made no secret of his interest in brands like Ferrari and Alfa Romeo in particular. A German source of this website familiar with such theories posited on Alfa, that it would be an excellent marque steeped in heritage to position similarly to SEAT. Instead of being cannibalistic with the Audi brand, it could be a more affordable lead-in that has the design flare, market draw and heritage that SEAT lacks. Looking back on the Pieschetsrieder-era Audi Brand Group with SEAT as the emotional lead-in to Audi and Lamborghini, Alfa would seem to make sense. We once argued also that Lancia might be an even more shrewd choice, but that brand has never really been discussed in such rumors that we’ve ever read.


While it’s interesting to think of future product like RS 3 based Delta Integrales, Touareg TDI-based Jeep Grand Cherokees or Maseratis based on the new Porsche developed MSB platform, how this could come to fruition would be a challenge. There seems to be no love lost between Piech and Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne. The interest in Alfa Romeo and even Ferrari manifested itself in the press, with quotes from Piech. Marchionne has very publicly denied such advances.


If they are to be believed, today’s report suggests the discussions were held above Marchionne’s head and at the investor level, namely with the Agnelli and Elkann families. However, both companies refused to comment and a later update to the Auto Zeitung report suggests the Agnelli family has very vocally stated the rumor is false.


So what of it? Could it be true? That much is hard to say. This could be very high-level back-and-forth jabbing between Piech and Marchionne, or it could have some truth. Time will tell, but should it prove true this would likely be the largest brand portfolio of one company ever. To say it would be a management challenge would be nothing short of an understatement.


The post Rumor: Volkswagen Group in Talks to Acquire Fiat Chrysler Says Germany’s Manager Magazin Reports appeared first on VWVortex.






from VWVortex http://ift.tt/1mYQJnV

via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Saying Goodbye to the CC V6

For all its size and its global reach, Volkswagen is still, in many ways, a deeply human company. There was, for instance, the Bugatti Veyron an ego project if ever there was one. Then the purchase of Ducati, a move most called folly. And then there was the Phaeton, the Volkswagen that most folks can’t afford. Not only were these moves all strange, I’m sure that they made VW’s accountants furious. None of them made good business sense, but they were all deeply interesting and they all are evidence of the heart that beats at the center of VW. Among these follies is the CC, a car that everyone agrees is rakishly handsome, but that no one really wanted to buy. The car couldn’t last, but the world is brighter for its having been in it. With the approach debut of the Arteon, it seems like a good time to look back on its sadly departing predecessor. The version I drove, because I live in Canada, is a V6 Wolfsburg Edition, which apparently isn’t available in the States. Nor is the V6, not as...
Post a Comment
Read more

Waterfest Moves to Atco Dragway

Waterfest 24 will be held at Atco Dragway, in Atco, New Jersey. The summer event will take place at its new venue on July 21 and 22. Long held in Englishtown, New Jersey, the festival has been such a large part of the VW scene that the latest iteration of the Golf even comes with optional “Englishtown” wheels . The new venue, however, is an NHRA drag track a scant 52 miles southwest of Englishtown. The ¼ mile drag track opened in 1960, which makes it the oldest drag strip in New Jersey. The announcement came today on a social media post that announced the new location. Waterfest is North America’s largest VW/Audi show. As many 20,000 people show up for the annual show, making the second largest show in the world—with Worthersee being number one. 2018 will be Waterfest’s 24 th year in existence. The post Waterfest Moves to Atco Dragway appeared first on VWVortex . from VWVortex http://ift.tt/2GQjkuc via IFTTT
Post a Comment
Read more

European Passat GTE launches as Saloon and Variant

Volkswagen continues e-motoring offensive with plug-in hybrid Passat GTE delivers 218 PS and travels up to 50 kilometres on all-electric power First Volkswagen plug-in hybrid in the high-volume segment of large family cars The Volkswagen continues to electrify! Following the Golf GTE*, comes the next high-volume model with a plug-in drive system: this time the German carmaker is electrifying the new Passat GTE. Its launch marks the debut of a new generation of business and family cars – zero-emission vehicle and long-distance touring car all in one. A Volkswagen that combines the present and the future. A car that boasts not only one of the most progressive drive systems of our time, but also an array of innovative assistance and infotainment systems that is ground-breaking in the segment of large family cars. With superb system output of 160 kW / 218 PS, frugal NEDC consumption of just 1.6 l/100 km and 12.2 kWh/100 km (Variant: 12.4 kWh) and an all-electric range of up to 50 k...
Post a Comment
Read more