DieselGate Part II - FCA Warns Investors Of Pending Fines For Diesel Cheating

If they get fined they're fu!#ed...they barely have the money to get product out on time, much less pay a huge fine.

I honestly think Chrysler AKA "900 Lives" Is cursed, every time they get a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel, they find a way to block themselves

Incompetence has a way of showing itself.

If guilty (which they are judging by the memo)slap all the executives with RICO charges and bankrupt the bastards with legal fees.

You've been watching too many mob movies...you can't charge FCA or its executives under the RICO as cheating emissions test doesn't qualify as a RICO predicate offense.

FCA defrauded the consumers with false and misleading emission data which will greatly affect the resale values of both the affected vehicles and the brand.

If FCA and VW knowingly put cheat devises in these vehicles then that is fraud and fraud IS a RICO predicate. Whether or not if it were to survive the courts I don't know, I'm not an attorney -just a guy who watches too many mob movies.

This will be what triggers a sell off of Jeep and Ram.

...And then go bankrupt. There's no way they can sell Jeep and Ram and stilnsustaib all their other money losing operations. Unless someone is stupid/desperate enough to take Fiat off their hands.

Looks like GM has sold Opel. Maybe they will try to make a play for FCA.

GM still has no real need for FCA. GM has decided that Europe - at least for the short term - based on Brexit - and the possibility of it spreading to other countries - and the movements of the currencies make being profitable from the OUTSIDE (Not being European) unlikely. Just as they have reduced their exposure to unprofitable rental car sales - GM is looking to doing things that increase the value of their shares for investors - and FCA offers little - even from Jeep and Ram. Gm has a bunch of all new platforms for lighter cars - and soon Trucks - that will make RAM ancient history. Since RAM is long overdue for new platforms - using a new GM platform simply means competing with itself for sales. Eventually - and for the same reason - as Jeep and RAM continue to use the same platforms - their sales will EBB - and Ford and GM are putting themselves into position to take those sales without having to buy even a share of FCA stock. Other than current model RAM and Jeep models (many of which a are long overdue for replacement) - FCA has no ASSETS for GM want - much less buy.

Once again TomM needs to take his medications.

Buying FCA could make a load of sense oddly enough.

Kill Chrysler and Dodge.

Cadillac platforms rejuvenate Maserati with Cadillac dealers having several premium brands (Cadillac, Maserati, Alfa Romeo).

Co brand Jeep with Cadillac/premium.

Offer Ram as a pickup brand to dealers of brands that do not have pickups.

Buying other businesses to get larger makes sense in some types of business but not others. Matt, rolling up car dealerships makes sense to get economies of scale, but in businesses where a critical success factor is product design and manufacturing, buying and integrating someone else's similar company usually becomes a distraction. You get better ROI by simplifying and seeking growth by aggressively going after more customers with what you already have along with a "kill the competition" attitude. Tom's right on this one. GM, like Ford before it, is focused on it's ROI and getting ready for the radically different future the automotive business is facing over the next decade or two. Mary is simplifying brands, cutting distractive losers (Opel), investing in technology, etc. etc. One can argue with individual pieces of the implementation, but the direction is what matters. GM buying FCA would likely have the same outcome as HP buying Compaq or Palm, Microsoft buying Nokia, Google buying Motorola, etc. etc. None of those were good for the business.

@Vette71 You are incorrect when you say "You get better ROI by simplifying and seeking growth by aggressively going after more customers with what you already have along with a "kill the competition" attitude."

If that were true, then Porsche would never have made an SUV.

FCA has Jeep and Ram that would allow companies totally devoid of those segments to suddenly be well-represented.

Honda and Hyundai-Kia could easily go after new customers through acquisition.

With a modicum of creativity Ram could also fit with GM. GM does not have a "Jeep" division and could easily propel the brand to be a Land Rover/Range Rover competitor.

Offering Ram as a stand alone brand to VW,Honda, Mazda, and Hyundai-Kia dealerships could easily work.

The critical factor is not necessarily product design as there have been numerous brilliantly designed products that have been abject failures.

The big question here is what will be the future of diesels. Diesels make sense to reduce CO2 emissions which was the aim of the EPAs mpg regulations. You get lots of power and more miles out of a gallon of diesel with less CO2. NOx and particles need to be managed. BlueTec (urea)technology and catalysts with engine controls manage them. VW chose not to use BlueTEC etc. with these controls on its small engines, but rather just put the engine in an unusual set to conditions when undergoing EPA type testing. They kept this strategy even when they started to add BlueTEC etc. FCA did use BlueTEC but as allowed by Europe and the EPA for all ICE engines set the controls so that durability was not compromised in certain conditions like start up,etc. That's what the EPA etc are challenging. But everybody does hat with ICE engines.

The issue in the USA is CARB which the EPA relies on for engine testing and certification. CARB clearly wants everyone to drive electrics, moving away from the current CO2 spewing gas ICE fleet. But is CARB declaring war on the companies that choose diesel as the way to meet the new CO2 reducing mpg standards rather than go electric? VW was the most successful with the diesel strategy and they are now out of the business, due to their own hand. Now FCA which is second in volume diesel sales is being attacked. If GM is successful in selling their new diesels will CARB go after them? Ford's diesel in the high volume F-150? If the EPA doesn't divorce a politicized CARB, diesels could have a tough road.