[rupinder]

i was just watching BBC and a new headline flashed that fiat is in talks with german govt to take over the loss making division of GM namely opel. i dont know whether is that cash rich that it is going so aggressively on M&A. or is it just a matter of buying when the price is rock bottom to add new manufacturing facilities and get new technology

[sandeep.mishra]

I think FIAT is using this opportunity to buy some platforms at throw away prices! FIAT may actually emerge stronger in this crisis where every other car company is declaring bankruptcy! We may again see the FIAT "ASTRA" & "CORSA" on Indian roads!

[srishiva]

Since it got Chrysler for free, there is nothing wrong in trying to get more.

[rupinder]

well the buisness that fiat want to take over is not only opel but also vauxall (if the spelling is correct)

[hillram]

I have Fiats and Opel Corsa in my Stable...If Opel is taken over by Fiat,the European flavour still remains for me.

[ram_hyundai]

Nice opurtunity for people to add enough armor to their existing ones-thanks to recetion.And even better that GM india has seen this well ahead and changed the branding in india from opel to chevy,hehe.There would be a little of ferrari in every thing european,nice move any ways.
ram

[amit]

Fiat to create auto giant.

The Fiat boss said the Italian carmaker and Opel would form a publicly traded company with revenues of about 80 billion euros (106 billion dollars) and sales of six or seven million vehicles a year -- putting it on a par with Volkswagen, the world's second biggest maker behind Toyota of Japan.

Fiat has prepared an offer of less than 750 million euros (990 million dollars) for Opel.

Fiat said that over the next few weeks, Marchionne will be looking “to assess the viability of a merger of the activities of Fiat Group Automobiles (including the interest in Chrysler) and General Motors Europe into a new company.”

Imagine a day when Tata merges with this new Fiat-Opel-Chrysler auto giant. What a range of vehicles they will have!

[f450]

Opel's a pretty good buy IMO, but Chrysler????? They'll probably sell Fiat cars with a Chrysler badge or something.

Remember, Fiat already owns Ferrari and Maserati

[spadival]

Well, the wheels have turned full circle, haven't they. Not long ago, GM was a major shareholder in Fiat. People were talking about how Fiat was going belly up.
Fiat seems to have the last laugh.

[f450]

Btw, can anyone confirm what this means for Vauxhall? I know they sell some of Opel's cars (Astra, for one) in some countries. If Fiat takes over Opel, does that mean they take over Vauxhall too?

And while we're discussing that, what does it mean for SAAB?

[deepakhon]

Correct me if I am wrong. Most, if not all Vauxhalls, are rebadged Opels. Fiat itself is already sharing platforms and engines with Opel, and consequently Vauxhall. From what I know, Vauxhall is more like Skoda and Opel, more like VW if you were to compare this with the VW group.

Looks like Sergio is on a hyper-active mode. I am just wondering whether it will be too much for him to manage Fiat group, Chrysler, and also Opel and Vauxhall. Is Fiat chewing more than it can swallow?

Sergio has been astute so far, and I hope this alliance works well. In theory, these alliances, at least to me, make sense. But I wonder how Sergio will be able to manage the entire unit, now that it is rumoured to be the second largest, next only to Toyota in size.

His idea of platform and engine sharing across large number of brands seems like a good idea, but implementation is going to be very challenging. Sergio might spend more time co-ordinating among all these brands. Also, Fiat itself is stuck with two brands which are doing very bad sales numbers (Alfa and Lancia). It has been close to 5 years since he has started to manage the entire Fiat automative group, but these brands have not shown any significant sales increase. I wonder how the entire unit, once formed, is going to look like.

Also, Fiat is doing pretty badly in China, one of the important markets. In India, even though the sales are increasing, the numbers are not really significant. I wonder how he plans to work it out in China.

Best of luck for the alliance.

Unfortunately, SAAB seems to be loosing out.

[pedrolourenco]

Vauxhall is the Opel rebadged in UK.

[Thad E Ginathom]

...and the UK's 'Corsa' is the small hatchback, not the saloon that was sold here.

And a good little car it is too.

[GTO]

If you ask me, Fiat is biting off more than it can chew. Chrsyler down, now gunning for Opel.....I see the European equivalent of a GM in the making. Including the lack of focus and all that.

[deepakhon]

Originally Posted by GTO

If you ask me, Fiat is biting off more than it can chew.

Precisely what I am worried about! I am sure with such an alliance, the first few years will just be invested in getting everyone on the same page. There needs to be a lot of coordination, and a lot of management effort will have to be put in. We all know how Fiat is when it comes to management.

Fiat's strength lies in technology and not management. In my opinion, they should produce their own cars to sustain themselves, and more importantly, they should adapt the strategy that they are doing right now in India; engine and platform provider.