FIAT POWERTRAIN CONFIRMS ACQUISITION OF PENSKE'S HALF STAKE IN VM MOTORI

Fiat Powertrain Technologies (FPT) has confirmed that it has just bought a 50 percent stake in Italian diesel engine manufacturer VM Motori which provides a curious symmetry with the Italian firm's recent history as it turns its new acquisition into a joint venture between Fiat and its former joint venture partner GM. The news that FPT was to buy the half stake belonging to the U.S.'s Penske Corporation was revealed mid-January and confirmed in a statement issued in Turin today.

Penske originally bought a 51 per cent stake in VM Motori in 2003 from DaimlerChrysler, before completing the purchase of the remaining 49 per cent in 2007. Subsequently that same year, it sold half of the company to General Motors. Russia’s GAZ Group announced plans to purchase Penske’s remaining stake in September 2008, as a complement to their purchase of Britain’s LDV. The intention was to install VM engines in their own GAZelle van and LDV’s Maxus – but the deal fell over in February 2009, a combination of the effects of the global financial crisis and LDV’s abortive relaunch.

Fiat wants the stake to get great control over VM's RA 630 3.0 V6, which will find its first OEM installations in European versions of the new Jeep Grand Cherokee and the Chrysler 300, which will wear a Lancia badge in Europe. VM launched this engine a few years ago but has found it hard to generate any interest, however it has recently been updated to Euro 5 specification and had around 20 kg shaved off its weight. It won't be Fiat’s first encounter with the 630 – prototypes of the Alfa 159 with this engine were tested some years ago, but the car’s failure to set the sales charts alight led to management questioning whether such an installation would prove profitable. In the new 300 and Grand Cherokee, it will serve as a replacement for Mercedes-Benz’s OM642 3.0 V6, the diesel option for the previous 300 and Grand Cherokee – a carryover from Chrysler’s time under Daimler ownership.

This is the latest in a series of strategic engine manufacturing acquisitions where Fiat and its partner Chrysler have acquired somewhat unregarded engines. Chrysler bought out its partners in the World Gasoline Engine (WGE) project, formerly a joint venture between Chrysler (then under Daimler ownership), Mitsubishi and Hyundai, the actual unit based on a powerplant from the Korean firm; however the engine quickly developed a reputation for being noisy and unresponsive. Another flop was the Brazilian-built Tritec engine, originally a joint venture between Chrysler and Rover (and then BMW), but with all partners dissatisfied with the engine's abilities it was acquired by FPT and reworked to become the new E.torQ engine. VM's 630 has similarly been cold shouldered by OEMs and FPT will be hoping that its stake in VM will allow it to have a greater influence over the development of the engine.

FPT announced the acquisition of the Penske stake in a statement issued in Turin today which read: "Fiat Powertrain, a subsidiary of Fiat S.p.A, and Penske Corporation have reached an agreement under which Fiat Powertrain will purchase Penske Corporation’s fifty-percent stake in VM Motori S.p.A. (VM). The agreement is still subject to customary clearance by the appropriate anti-trust competition authorities. VM is a long-established company, headquartered in Cento (Italy), specialized in the design and manufacturing of diesel engines with its own intellectual property. As a consequence of the deal, VM Motori will be co-owned by Fiat Powertrain and GM (which acquired its fifty-percent stake in the company in September 2007). GM and Fiat Powertrain will jointly manage VM, while both shareholders will continue to have ongoing commercial relationships with VM, including engineering services and supply of diesel engines. Existing business relationships between VM Motori and GM as well as other customers, remain unaffected. Through this acquisition Fiat is further enlarging its diesel engines portfolio with state of the art products for different applications and particularly for automotive, such as the newly developed V6 engine."



(vir: http://www.italiaspeed.com/2011/cars/in ... /1102.html)

Fiat and Ferrari dominate 2011 International Engine of the Year Awards



Italy knows how to put an engine together – at least, according to the International Engine of the Year voting committee. The votes have been tallied, and Fiat has taken home four out of 12 awards. The company's 875-cc TwinAir mill has earned the title of Best New Engine of 2011, Green Engine of the Year, Sub 1.0-liter Engine of the Year and International Engine of the Year. Ferrari helped Italy earn two more awards, with the 458's 4.5-liter V8 unit being crowned Best Engine Above 4.0-liters and Best Performance engine. All told, Italian powerplants claimed half of the awards handed out.

BMW was no slouch, however, with the German automaker acquiring four awards in the competition. Audi and Volkswagen also earned recognition. A great showing, but the Italians earn the win thanks to Fiat taking the top prize. Click past the jump to read the full press release and learn more about the International Engine of the Year awards.

(vir: http://www.autoblog.com/2011/05/18/fiat ... -the-year/)

FIAT AGREES PRICE FOR U.S. TREASURY CHRYSLER STAKE TO MOVE ABOVE 50 PERCENT

It's official, Fiat now controls the Chrysler Group after agreeing to buy the U.S. Treasury Department's 6 percent stake for US$500 million following the exercising its option; this development edges its shareholding up to 52 percent.

From an initial 20 percent of equity that Fiat was handed when the Chrysler Group emerged from the bruising Chapter 11 bankruptcy process in 2009, the Italian carmaker has steadily edged its way to 52 percent, to take operational control, and with a range of further options to increase that stake upwards still available to it.

In s statement issued in Turin, Fiat said: "Fiat and the United States Department of Treasury (UST) have agreed today that Fiat will pay US$500 million to purchase the 6 percent UST’s ownership interest in Chrysler Group LLC, following Fiat’s notice of exercise for the UST Call Option on May 27, 2011."

The statement also noted that Fiat is paying a further US$75 million to the UST to take over its option to buy the stake held by the VEBA trust on behalf of the union's healthcare fund. "In addition, the UST has agreed to assign to Fiat all of the UST’s rights under the Equity Recapture Agreement entered into between UST and VEBA on June 10, 2009, for a price of US$75 million," said Fiat.

"Under the Equity Recapture Agreement, the holder retains the economic benefits associated with the Chrysler ownership interests held by VEBA above a specified threshold (equal to $4.25 billion plus 9 percent per annum compounded annually from January 1, 2010)," noted the press release. "Under the Equity Recapture Agreement, any proceeds to VEBA from its Chrysler membership interests that exceed the specified threshold are paid over to the holder along with any membership interests retained at the time in excess of that threshold. In addition, the holder has a right to purchase all of the membership interests retained by VEBA for a purchase price equal to the specified threshold less any proceeds previously received by VEBA from its membership interests in Chrysler."

Fiat also stated that: "Both transactions will be consummated upon receipt of the requisite regulatory approvals." Later this year Fiat will also gain a further 5 percent stake in the Chrysler Group when it introduces a fuel efficient (40 mpg) model.

"On behalf of my family and I," commented Fiat’s Chairman, John Elkann, "I reiterate our confidence in Sergio Marchionne and his leadership team and our support of all the people at Fiat and Chrysler who are working with dedication and humility and have made it possible to repay the trust that the U.S. government demonstrated towards us a mere 23 months ago. We will continue to support them as they further strengthen this historic alliance and together build an international automotive group capable of competing with the very best in the automotive market."



(vir: http://www.italiaspeed.com/2011/cars/in ... rcent.html)

lizard je napisal/-a:Pa glede na to, da Sergej spet nekaj prčka pri dizajnu Giulie se bojim, da ne bo spredaj nič lepša od Giuliette, tako da...

Joie de vivre! je napisal/-a:Že nekaj mesecev nazaj sem v nekem Delovem intervjuju z nekim šefom v Kragujevcu zasledil podatek, da bodo srbske enoprostorce pod drugo znamko (Dodge?) izvažali celo v ZDA. Žal tistega izvoda nisem spravil, saj je možakar zasledil zelo zanimiv podatek, ki ga v ameriških medijih nisem zasledil.

Lignage je napisal/-a:No in očitno sem z omembo upokojitve AR 159 poklical hudiča. Namreč na francoskem forumu (worldscoop.forumpro.fr) sem ravno prebral, da se ji bliža konec proizvodnje. Kot kaže, bojo proizvodne zmogljivosti v tovarni v Pomiglianu d'Arco, kjer model 159 izdelujejo, raje uporabili za novo Pando.

Joie de vivre! je napisal/-a:Naj bo Chrysler, samo da bo zadeva dobro izvedena. Alfe imajo že celo desetletje GM-ove V6 motorje, isti motor v Chevroletu zveni kot Chevrolet, v Alfi pa z nekaj začimb kot Maserati.

lizard je napisal/-a:In ker je nov V6 bil tako veliko razočaranje ga niso absolutno nič prodali. Medtem ko se je za star V6 govorilo, da ima smisel kupiti alfo samo zaradi tega motorja, ki je konec koncev dobival hvalospeve v prakitčno vsaki avtomobilistični oddaji. Še vedno je daleč največja aflina napaka da so ta motor uknili. Kot zanimivost - stari V6 je celo preživel novega, saj so po prekinitvni pogodbe z GM-om glede dobave novega V6, na trg poslali omejeno verzijo Alfe GT 3.2 v letu 09. Oba motorja sta bila Euro 4, kar samo postavi italjansko logiko pod še večji vprašaj, zakaj so se sploh odločili za nov V6.

Zdaj pa grejo isto napako delat še 1x s Chryslerjevim Pentastar V6 motorjem - juhuuu. Osel gre 1x na led, italjani so tam vedno. Enostavno vodstvu ni jasno da je med karakterjem ameriških in italjanskih motorjev luknja večja kot atlantik.