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

Comments

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...

Mitsubishi admits it lied about MPG ratings for all vehicles in Japan

Filed under: Government/Legal , Green , Mitsubishi , Fuel Efficiency , Japan Mitsubishi says its shady fuel-economy test practices may have been used on all vehicles it sells and has sold in Japan. Continue reading Mitsubishi admits it lied about MPG ratings for all vehicles in Japan Mitsubishi admits it lied about MPG ratings for all vehicles in Japan originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 11 May 2016 12:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments from Autoblog Volkswagen http://ift.tt/21X3bHv

More 3.0-Liter TDI Settlement Details Expected by January 31

Volkswagen and the TDI Plaintiff’s Steering Committee were in court today for another status conference following the agreement in principal reached earlier this week. Little new information was given at the conference held before Judge Charles Breyer today, but the court ordered the parties to develop a formal settlement agreement, class action notices, and a class notice plan by January 31, 2017. For now, though, owners still don’t know how much to expect in compensation. Elizabeth Cabraser, lead Counsel for the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee reaffirmed in a statement today that the compensation would be “substantial.” The potential cost to Volkswagen is widely reported to exceed $1 billion, though, with an additional $225 million going into an environmental trust to help offset excess emissions. Buy back offers are still only expected for the oldest 20,000 of the roughly 80,000 VW Group vehicles sold in America with the 3.0-liter TDI engine. Those vehicles are mostly SUVs, like ...