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Jeep Parent Fiat Chrysler Agrees to Merger With Peugeot Owner PSA

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Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot Owner PSA Agree to Merge

https://www.motorauthority.com/news...-peugeot-owner-psa-reportedly-agree-to-merger

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and France's PSA Group, which controls the Citroen, DS, Opel/Vauxhall and Peugeot brands, reportedly agreed to the terms of a merger on Wednesday, according to The Wall Street Journal. PSA's board of directors has approved the deal, FCA's board is meeting on Wednesday, and Exor, the Agnelli family holding company that controls FCA, is scheduled to meet Wednesday night.

The merger of the two automakers would create a $48.4 billion global goliath that would be the fourth largest carmaker in the industry.

It's unclear how the merger or combined operations would be structured if FCA approves the deal. However, WSJ reported that the new board will include six members from PSA and five from FCA.

The deal is said to have Peugeot CEO Carlos Tavares as the head of the combined automakers while current FCA chairman John Elkann would continue in the same role at this new company. Tavares is widely credited for turning around European automaker Opel after the brand was purchased from General Motors in 2017 after years of losing money. Opel reported a profit just 18 months after its sale to PSA.

PSA Group has eyed a return to the U.S. after a hiatus for more than two decades. The automaker already operates a small car-sharing service called Free2Move, which is largely confined around major U.S. airports, and Peugeot is confirmed to arrive sometime in the next decade.

Elkann courted PSA before talks heated up with rival Renault last year. Reports indicated that FCA originally rebuffed PSA's proposals for a merger because it didn't solve Fiat's cash-crunch in a weakening European market and exposed both automakers to deepening manufacturing and laborer deficits in Italy and France. It's unclear what, if anything, has changed since that deal reportedly fell apart last spring.

PSA and Fiat Chrysler currently operate a joint-venture to produce commercial vans: the Fiat Ducato, Peugeot Boxer, and Citroen Jumper.

In May, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles attempted a merger with French automaker Renault for a 50/50 deal, but it fell apart. Reports indicated that the French government's stake in Renault drove an insurmountable wedge between the two automakers with politicians looking for assurances that no factories would close in France as a result of the merger. The French government owns a 15-percent stake in Renault, including voting rights. FCA was said to be in talks with Renault as late as August.
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apb

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This is a huge deal, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I guess time will tell with PSA having 6 board seats and FCA having 5.
 

DanW

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This is a huge deal, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I guess time will tell with PSA having 6 board seats and FCA having 5.
I cringed when Fiat took over Chrysler, but honestly, they wildly exceeded my expectations and produced the best Wrangler ever. We've got to understand that there is a major change afoot with electrification and other new technologies and to be competitive is going to require billions of investment and extensive engineering capacity. FCA has felt they can't do this adequately alone, so that's why they've been seeking a merger or a partner. My lack of knowledge and understanding of how to run an automobile company, combined with being wrong in the past has made me very cautious about rushing to judgement. I'll sit back and wait and see what happens. We might be surprised at the good that comes of it for Jeep. FCA has Jeep at record sales and has done a much better job than Mercedes did. Who saw that coming?
 

DanW

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Italian and French engineering.....

Two things that do not strike confidence.
As I said before, the Italians have done better with Jeep than the Germans did. I sure didn't predict that.

Besides, if you think Concorde, Rafale, Ferrari, and Lamborghini, things don't look so bleak, at least to me.
 

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Italian and French engineering.....

Two things that do not strike confidence.
Actually Peugeot makes really dependable cars when it comes to small city cars. Much better than Fiat, and better than any american brand honestly.
 

entropy

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I cringed when Fiat took over Chrysler, but honestly, they wildly exceeded my expectations and produced the best Wrangler ever. We've got to understand that there is a major change afoot with electrification and other new technologies and to be competitive is going to require billions of investment and extensive engineering capacity. FCA has felt they can't do this adequately alone, so that's why they've been seeking a merger or a partner. My lack of knowledge and understanding of how to run an automobile company, combined with being wrong in the past has made me very cautious about rushing to judgement. I'll sit back and wait and see what happens. We might be surprised at the good that comes of it for Jeep. FCA has Jeep at record sales and has done a much better job than Mercedes did. Who saw that coming?
True. The Wrangler JL is a really nice vehicle, but that could be simply because they had more $$$ to design it than they did before. The early welding issues due to bad quality control is typical of Italian engineering. The JL Wrangler performs incredible and it is a nice looking vehicle, that new 2.0L turbo engine has exceptional performance as well. But what about reliability? we don't truly know this yet, and only time will tell. We will see. Things didn't start very well with the steering issues, the bad welds, and small important internal components easily breaking (such as the track guides in the 2D seat).

Are the turbos going to start falling apart? is the new diesel going to crap out after 5 years? maybe, maybe not.
 

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As I said before, the Italians have done better with Jeep than the Germans did. I sure didn't predict that.

Besides, if you think Concorde, Rafale, Ferrari, and Lamborghini, things don't look so bleak, at least to me.
Fiat is used to dealing with massive quality issues so they are a better match in the depths of low quality hell.

The Fiat Wobbler JL is the crown jewel of this mess, and should have some priority. It’s just a matter of time before this new glob of poo is bought by a big Chinese company. At this point it’s an amazing after market and loyalist group keeping the JL what it is
 

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I cringed when Fiat took over Chrysler, but honestly, they wildly exceeded my expectations and produced the best Wrangler ever. We've got to understand that there is a major change afoot with electrification and other new technologies and to be competitive is going to require billions of investment and extensive engineering capacity. FCA has felt they can't do this adequately alone, so that's why they've been seeking a merger or a partner. My lack of knowledge and understanding of how to run an automobile company, combined with being wrong in the past has made me very cautious about rushing to judgement. I'll sit back and wait and see what happens. We might be surprised at the good that comes of it for Jeep. FCA has Jeep at record sales and has done a much better job than Mercedes did. Who saw that coming?
Time will definitely tell and who knows, this could end up being a great thing for Jeep in particular. I don't really have expectations either way, but I suppose that's because I'm not really very familiar with and up to date on PSA since it's not a current American market player. Guess it's time to sit back and see how it all unfolds!
 

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DanW

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True. The Wrangler JL is a really nice vehicle, but that could be simply because they had more $$$ to design it than they did before. The early welding issues due to bad quality control is typical of Italian engineering. The JL Wrangler performs incredible and it is a nice looking vehicle, that new 2.0L turbo engine has exceptional performance as well. But what about reliability? we don't truly know this yet, and only time will tell. We will see. Things didn't start very well with the steering issues, the bad welds, and small important internal components easily breaking (such as the track guides in the 2D seat).

Are the turbos going to start falling apart? is the new diesel going to crap out after 5 years? maybe, maybe not.
Remember, the frame supplier is an American company and I can tell you with no doubt that the quality and fit/finish on my JL is much better than it was on my 2008 JK, which wasn't terrible. The JL is definitely way ahead, though. I'm not sure the frame weld issues were a massive number, though. Mine was an early December 2017 build and it had none of those issues. I believe I read it was a bad welding robot, which was one of three. Mine must have made it through one of the good ones or it hadn't failed at that time yet.

I've got a 99 Mercedes E430 that has had its share of quirky issues, too, including horrific tire wear due to its funky suspension. It can't dream of getting 30k out of a set of tires and outside of a Mercedes dealership, there is only one shop in Indianapolis that has the proper equipment and training to align it.

From what I've seen and read so far, the turbo seems to be off to a great start. I think they've done a good job with it. Long term durability is yet to be seen, but keep in mind, DI engines in general have some issues with valve deposits and timing chain wear, so time will tell. I think newer oils with the Dexos 1 Gen 2 certification has likely taken care of the timing chain wear that was once typical.

I'm a little more skeptical of that diesel than the turbo, to be honest. But that's still no better than a guess or gut feeling.

I also bought a 2017 Renegade for my daughter. It has about 23k on it so far and we've been very pleased with it. The quality and fit/finish on it were excellent, too, and it rides and handles really well. I've just not experienced what I used to assume about Fiat years ago. That Renegade, btw, is much more a Fiat than the Wrangler.
 

DanW

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Fiat is used to dealing with massive quality issues so they are a better match in the depths of low quality hell.

The Fiat Wobbler JL is the crown jewel of this mess, and should have some priority. It’s just a matter of time before this new glob of poo is bought by a big Chinese company. At this point it’s an amazing after market and loyalist group keeping the JL what it is
Fiat did not invent the wobble on Jeeps. Jeeps have a long and storied past with this issue, which is common to solid front axles. Ask Ford. They are getting sued now over the Super Duty solid axle death wobble. Besides, I've heard of more cases of actual death wobble after mods than on bone stock Jeeps. (The shake caused by bad steering dampeners is NOT death wobble. Anyone who thinks it is has not experienced true death wobble.) The supplier of the faulty steering dampeners also is likely an American company, as well.
 

rubileon

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Peugeot? A brand known for making reliable vehicles throughout history? Great move FCA. Maybe this is a marketing ploy to make people buy current stock as quickly as possible. That last part even I don't know if I was being sarcastic.
 

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I’m still emotionally and financially recovering from the Peugeot transmissions in my 89 Comanche

Break, fix, repeat....
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