Marchionne Refutes Bloomberg Report on Fiat, Peugeot and Opel Tie-up

On Tuesday, we ran a story based on a report by Bloomberg News that Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has been talking to PSA Peugeot Citroen and Opel executives about the three carmakers merging into a single entity. Today, however, Marchionne refuted the report describing it to Automotive Europe as “bizarre”.

The Fiat-Chrysler CEO admitted that he had been talking with GM and PSA CEOs Dan Akerson and Philippe Varin, respectively, but he stressed that the discussions were misinterpreted by the report.

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Toyota Looks to PSA Peugeot-Citroen and Fiat for its New ProAce LCV

If you're a professional in need of a medium-duty van and for whatever reason, you don't like the Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat badges and/or the selling and service points of the aforementioned brands, there's a fourth variant of the series from Toyota.

The Japanese carmaker wanted to re-enter the light commercial vehicle segment in Europe after suspending sales of the HiAce van and decided it would be better to sign an OEM agreement with PSA group and re-badge the Citroen Jumpy / Peugeot Expert, which is also offered under the Fiat brand as the Scudo.

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GM and PSA Peugeot Citroen Reportedly Considering European Merger

With GM’s European Opel/Vauxhall brands and PSA Peugeot Citroen losing money as well as market share fast, the two groups are looking for ways to make the best out of the alliance they formed on February 29.

Under the initial agreement, GM paid US$423 million (€326 million) for a 7 percent stake in its French partner, which made it its second-largest shareholder. The Detroit carmaker had stated, however, that despite the massive gains for both companies, it might be forced to write down its investment.

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Fiat-Chrysler CEO Marchionne Says European Car Market Won’t Recover Without EU Intervention

If anything, Sergio Marchionne is a man who speaks his mind – a bit too often, some might say. Still, the CEO of the Fiat-Chrysler group is deeply concerned about the drop in European car sales and he thinks something should be done about it.

Marchionne, who is also the head of ACEA, the European auto manufacturers’ association, is strongly endorsing the idea that there should be a European Union-led coordinated strategy if the industry is to survive.

“I am concerned that if we don’t find a collective will to resolve this at a European level, it is going to become a permanent crisis”, he said on Wednesday, October 10.

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Loeb Wins 9th Consecutive WRC Championship, Citroen Claims 8th Manufacturers’ Title

We bet that rivals of Sebastien Loeb wish that the 38-year old Alsatian hadn’t quit being a gymnast in favor of rally racing in 1995… If he had stuck to his former profession, Loeb and his co-driver Daniel Elena wouldn’t have done a Michael Schumacher (in his first Formula 1 stint) and dominate the FIA World Rally Championship.

Actually, they have outdone Schumi for they have won the WRC title nine years in a row after winning this weekend’s Rallye de France and helping Citroen secure its eight manufacturers’ title in the WRC.

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