by Keith_McClary » Sat 02 May 2009, 01:15:56
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8026621.stm]BBC: Can Fiat put Chrysler on road to recovery?[/url]
"I think it's madness," says independent automotive analyst Rob Golding.
Little to offer
These days, Chrysler's own cars - which also include the Dodge and Jeep marques - are hard enough to sell within the US, where sales have fallen off a cliff in recent months. Abroad it is even tougher.
Fiat Group's chief executive, Sergio Marchione
Analysts say Fiat Group chief Marchione is adding to his difficulties.
In fact, Chrysler has little presence outside the US. When its former Germany parent company Daimler sold Chrysler in 2007, sales outside North America accounted for no more than 7% or 8% of its sales.
But if Chrysler has little to offer Fiat - let alone anyone else - then the reverse is also true.
Fiat is similarly reliant on its home market, bolstered by Italians snapping up the majority of the Fiats, Lancias and Alfa Romeos it makes.
Hence, although it might come across as global on paper, the Fiat-Chrysler alliance is not about to become an international automotive giant that will seriously rival the likes of, say, Toyota, Volkswagen Group or Nissan-Renault.
Indeed, there is no way it could emerge as a serious rival without significant injections of cash.
"Who is going to provide the money?" asks Mr Golding. "Fiat can't possibly do it.
"Fiat is easily the weakest of all the major automotive companies. It does not even generate enough revenue to fund its own investment."
Sounds like Chrysler should have merged with GM. Or got themselves taken over by Daihatsu or Tata or Chery.
Fiat was founded:
On 11 July 1899 at Palazzo Bricherasio, the company charter of “Società Anonima Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino” was signed.