Currently reading: FCA's Marchionne: merger with GM would still bring "huge benefits"
Following yesterday's announcement that PSA will buy Opel/Vauxhall, Fiat Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne has spoken about how it could affect a possible FCA merger with GM

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) boss Sergio Marchionne has said that the sale of Opel to the PSA Group is likely to mean a loss of 15 to 20% of the synergies that might have been available from a merger between FCA and General Motors (GM) - but he still believes such a deal would have “huge benefits”. 

Linking with a manufacturer from China would be no compensation, he believes. "The benefit of a merger is that you can bring down the costs where you operate," he says. "A Chinese deal might be the thing to do if you're thinking 20 years out, but it's not going to fix the next five years." 

Marchionne was scathing about GM's move yesterday of citing "geopolitical uncertainties" as one of its reasons for quitting Europe. "We're paid to manage," he said. "You can't go dividing the world into geopolitical areas." He pointed out that both GM and FCA did business in Latin America, which are hardly paragons of stability.

He also confirmed that he has no intention of selling any of FCA brands, which include which include FiatChryslerAlfa Romeo and Jeep. When asked at the Geneva motor show, Marchionne confirmed FCA would not sell anything. "After me, you can do what you want," he said, "but while I'm here nothing will be sold.”

Marchionne said there was only one trend that was a certainty - that small-capacity diesel engines were dead. "Everything else is fair play," he said. "The question is not over the technology, but over the customer's ability to afford it." 

Opel boss Karl-Thomas Neumann says firm has control of its destiny

Read all the news from the Geneva motor show

Advertisement

Read our review

Car review

Mild hybrid power gives Fiat's core model a chance to outlive its famous 1950s forebear

Steve Cropley

Steve Cropley Autocar
Title: Editor-in-chief

Steve Cropley is the oldest of Autocar’s editorial team, or the most experienced if you want to be polite about it. He joined over 30 years ago, and has driven many cars and interviewed many people in half a century in the business. 

Cropley, who regards himself as the magazine’s “long stop”, has seen many changes since Autocar was a print-only affair, but claims that in such a fast moving environment he has little appetite for looking back. 

He has been surprised and delighted by the generous reception afforded the My Week In Cars podcast he makes with long suffering colleague Matt Prior, and calls it the most enjoyable part of his working week.

Join the debate

Comments
2
Add a comment…
brian245 7 March 2017

After me, you can do what you want," he said,

After him cannot come quick enough
caustic_river 7 March 2017

Too big!

I think this would make a company too large and unmanageable to work effectively. Ford had a similar problem a few years back - they were too large and had to sell off the likes of Volvo and JLR as they were losing money in the end. I don't see how this merger would work.