The possibility of a merger or some sort of co-operative deal between Fiat Chrysler and General Motors appears to be dwindling and insiders say that FCA chief Sergio Marchionne is now looking at other possibilities, with PSA Peugeot Citroen high on the list.
A report by Bloomberg News said Marchionne had been “stonewalled” by GM CEO Mary Barra and her board although he was still seeking some kind of “friendly deal” beneficial to both parties in terms of cost savings.
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Earlier this month Marchionne said that his preferred route was to work through the corporate governance system of companies and not to circumvent decision making processes within companies. Barra has said that the GM board wasn’t interested in discussing a merger with FCA which it saw as a distraction from the company’s own efforts to build vehicles more efficiently.
Marchionne has repeatedly said that there was a need for more consolidation in the auto industry to spread the costs of developing new models, efficient engines and clean-emissions technologies.
With a knock-back from GM, Marchionne was said to be looking elsewhere, including PSA and Volkswagen, although the German company is used to getting full control of the companies it is involved with. VW has said it was not currently looking at any deals.
PSA is currently going through a re-organisation under chief executive officer Carlos Tavares who joined the business last year. The French company still wants more time to get its house in order and even then it does, it might not be an ideal partner for FCA.
PSA sold 2.9m vehicles last year, more than half of them in Europe and while it does have joint venture operations in China, it lags other western players there – including GM and VW.
