Last night, the Supreme Court pushed the biggest obstacle out of the way for the merger of the century … well, until GM has to do something similar. source
This morning, Fiat officially owns 20% of Chrysler, a share that could go up to 35% if it goes well. The UAW owns the biggest share, however, at 55%. source
Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne sounds upbeat about the sale: “This is a very significant day … for the global automotive industry as a whole,” he said. source
Crisis averted. Cuts made. Hands shaken. The Boston Globe, which nearly faced a death march this week, narrowly avoided it by getting six of its seven unions to agree to price cuts and a relaxing of a job guarantee policy which was the sticking point. The largest union, the Boston Newspaper Guild, which represents the newsroom, wouldn’t budge on the job security front. An agreement was met last night, but no word – yet – on whether they got to keep job security. source
Fiat to buy stake in Chrysler? Chrysler’s under the gun after getting $4 billion from the auto industry bailout, so it’s looking for some outside help. It needs to come up with a plan to stay alive to show to the U.S. government by March 31. Enter Fiat, the Italian car manufacturer with a long history of foreign interests. source
Fiat to buy stake in Chrysler? Chrysler’s under the gun after getting $4 billion from the auto industry bailout, so it’s looking for some outside help. It needs to come up with a plan to stay alive to show to the U.S. government by March 31. Enter Fiat, the Italian car manufacturer with a long history of foreign interests.
Scratching each other’s backs Fiat at the very least would offer some help to Chrysler. Both would benefit from the deal. Chrysler gets access to Fiat’s experience in building efficient small-to-medium-size cars; Fiat gets a foothold in the American market to introduce some of its vehicles to the States. Win-win, right? source