RUMOR MILL: VW Says No Plans On The Agenda To Takeover Fiat....Yet

Volkswagen AG, Fiat S.p.A. and Fiat's controlling shareholder all denied a German magazine report today that the companies have discussed a possible merger.

Volkswagen has approached rival Fiat about a possible merger, Germany's Manager Magazin reported on its website on Thursday, citing unnamed company sources.

VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech, who is a member of the family that controls the German carmaker, has held various talks with associates and members of the Agnelli family, which controls Fiat, Manager Magazin reported.

However, a VW spokesman said today the company currently had no takeovers on the agenda as it focuses on improving efficiency at the group.

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MattDarringer - 7/17/2014 11:58:48 AM

+1 Boost

It's probably true that VW wants FCA, but if so, it just shows how clueless VWAG is. They already have too many overlapping brands and overlapping models.

Let's assume they merge and Fiat and Alfa Romeo products are pulled off the MQB platform. All that would do is duplicate what Skoda and SEAT already do creating 4 VW duplicates instead of the current 2 redundant brands.

The value to Chrysler would be for the American Passat and Chrysler 200 to share a platform. VW at least has experience designing that sized car. While the 200 isn't terrible, it is quite evident that it is a slightly inflated Dart and not really 100% right for the segment. The 200 is very much a stopgap.

Should the FCA/VW merger happen, say goodbye to the French auto industry.

Vette71 - 7/17/2014 2:05:34 PM

+1 Boost

Imagine the poor folks at Chrysler if this were to happen. Going under clueless Germans again. Had to chuckle at VW's latest move with the USA engineering team being set up to Americanize their cars. Ask the folks at Chrysler. Once again you can always tell a German but you can't tell them much. They KNOW what is right. Prediction; VW USA engineering team will not be listened to in Wolfsburg. I managed a large group of German engineers responsible for global products. Saw all this first hand.

MattDarringer - 7/17/2014 4:29:51 PM

+2 Boost

The irony is that the Jetta and Passat are Americanized. What's killing sales is that it's getting out that they have reliability nightmares such as DSGs dying well under 100K miles etc.

They need a Hyundai warranty immediately and Toyota/Honda attention to reliability.

It's funny how Chrysler knows what to do if people would get out of the way. They suffered under the Gestapo-German "leadership" of Mercedes, they are trying to get traction under the "change his mind every 5 minutes" leadership of Marchionne, and possibly having to suffer under VW's foolishness...

MattDarringer - 7/17/2014 7:34:23 PM

+2 Boost

The clusterbang will be epic. VW will grab Fiat and then spend billions trying to sort out the mess and will have many brands overlapping like the old GM. What point is be #1 in global sales if the quality of the products is so iffy?