The motor industry – and we pundits who cover it – like nothing more than a good bit of gossip, a bit of intrigue, the putting together of two plus two and coming up with five.
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And so it seemed, this week, with an intriguing German newspaper story that Fiat was looking to Chrysler for a bit of help relaunching Alfa Romeo in the US of A. Fiat withdrew in the 80s and Alfa in the 90s, both with poor reputations for reliability and aftersales service.
Sometimes, the old adage ‘there’s no smoke without fire’ rings true and the rumour/speculation becomes fact and, other times, it doesn’t. A Chrysler spokeswoman dismissed the report as “speculation” mid-week and Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli, while affirming he’s open to more partnerships like another one with Nissan announced this week, last night denied the report, saying “There are no talks” and “I don’t know where that came from”.
Just how the Chrysler-Fiat-Alfa connection was made initially is a mystery but Chrysler’s alliance form of late probably helped fuel the flames.
There’s the link with Chery to eventually make a small Dodge, the tie-up with Nissan back at the beginning of the year to build a small car for South America and, this week, that news Nissan will supply another small car from Japan for North America in return for Chrysler’s furnishing of a Mexican-made, Ram-based large pickup to replace Nissan’s own Titan (which, though a worthy product, has never quite made even the modest targets set for it), thus freeing space in a Mississippi plant for Nissan’s own assault on more of the NAFTA light commercial market.
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By GlobalDataAnd let’s not forget that Chrysler is making a nice derivative of its Voyager/Town and Country minivan line for Volkswagen to sell in North America.
Trouble continues at t’GM mill in the US. On top of the AAM components strike that began on 26 February (there have been rumblings late this week some kind of settlement may be close), several plants have been threatened or hit with strike action over detail local issues not settled in the renegotiated national UAW contract last year. Then, mid-week, we heard of a row at an interior trim maker that hit a GM crossover plant.
Perhaps we in the UK, with our sparkling history of car company-union harmony, should not throw stones but, in a time of record foreclosures, rising prices, credit crunches and daily layoffs in the US we do have to ask: do some UAW locals (branches) have a death wish or what?
While we’re in the US, it was intriguing to hear ZF CEO Hans-Georg Harter if, not yet quite prepared to refer to the dollar zone as a ‘low cost’ area say that, at 1.6 dollars to the euro, the giant parts maker was now focusing on buying and making as much as possible there and increasing exports to “serve world markets from the USA”. If you want proof we’re in a cyclical business…
Sad news this week from just up the road – signs that maybe the brave Chinese plan to resume UK production of MGs may be doomed. When the body-in-white supplier, after a big spend to install all the needed equipment, pulls out, you have to wonder what they found out that spurred such a costly move.
At the end of the day, the plan is to resurrect a car launched in the mid-1990s, with only minor updates since, into a world where the key MX-5 rival has been twice refreshed and there’s a new emphasis on low CO2 emissions. As observers said, if Aston Martin and Jaguar couldn’t make a go of it, what chance a small Far Eastern newcomer? It’s nearly a year since that infamous ‘start of production’ fiasco event at Longbridge and still there are no cars in the dealerships. We’d like to see the famous Octagon badge back, but we’re not holding our breath that the cars will again be made here.
Enjoy your weekend,
Graeme Roberts
Deputy/News Editor
just-auto.com
