Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' Future Is A Bit Murky With No BIG Deal On The Table

Sounds all good to me.

When your "future is murky," you're wishing for someone to buy you out, and your quality numbers show you at (or near) the bottom of the list every single time, then I believe it's waaaaay past the time to conclude you're in a troubled company.

It still comes back to what Sergio said, there is too much capacity in the industry. Fiat and Chrysler could shutter. Ram, Jeep, Alfa's and Maserati live on. Better for the industry as a whole but a huge loss of jobs (and likely jobs and suppliers) when these two are shuttered.

My guess is that Great Wall put an offer on the table--probably for Ram and Jeep only--and Sergio pissed on it because that would cut off the profits gravy train to spend on mediocre Maseratis and Alfa Romeos.

Alfa and Maserati are most decidedly NOT viable alone and even under the wing of a mega auto company, they will be money pit brands for some time.

Chrysler is dead.

Fiat is only relevant to Italy.

Dodge could be saved, but probably would just be come the brand name under which Ram pickups are sold.

Jeep and Ram are all that's left.

VW, Honda, and Hyundai-Kia could all use both brands to excellent advantage.

I would think that the best manufacturer that could use FCA to its advantage would be Peugeot/Citroen. They don't have a presence in the USA - and could use some of their cars to fill out the Chrysler and Dodge brands at the bottom end. At the same time - they would get ownership of two "American" truck brands of value - and could fold Alfa and Maserati into the DS line at the top end. However - they just took over Opel - and probably don't have the money available right now. I doubt VW (which has repeatedly said no) or Hyundai would be interested - and while there is little overlap with Honda - I cannot see Honda interested in taking over Quality Challenged brands.

Fiat's been doing the slow death things for decades. Chrysler's heritage is of getting to the edge of going bust with a last second rescue. But, you know, eventually an end has to come.
Pretty much all the Chrysler operation has left of any value is Jeep and Ram; Chrysler and Dodge and pretty much worthless. I suppose Maserati and Alfa are worth something, maybe. But FCA has little to offer a buyer, and little to remain viable for much longer.

Second rescue? More like 2nd rape. Mercedes sucked profit from Chrysler when they were in a pinch and then spit the company out to Cerberus who was to kill the company. Sergio just unzipped and raped Chrysler like the Nazi with a mustache did before him.

With the French idiots at the helm, Nissan has not prospered. Their quality/reliability has gotten worse as a result of the French connection.