FCA's 5-year plan led by new Jeep, Ram, luxury products; company hits financial milestone

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles signaled that it will have more cash on hand than debt on its books by the end of this month for the first time since the merger that created it in 2009 during a wide-ranging series of long-term plans presented in Balocco, Italy.

CEO Sergio Marchionne, in his final year atop the automaker, revealed a blue necktie, a signal of achieving the company’s long-term financial goals, improving its margins, and generating big global profits.

Among its product plans, the company focused on four brands: Jeep, Ram, Alfa Romeo and Maserati, saying it would electrify much of its lineup, offering new battery electrics, and move into new segments with new vehicles like a midsize Ram pickup, a three-row Grand Cherokee, and a Maserati midsize crossover.

However, the long-term fates of mass-market brands Dodge, Fiat and Chrysler remained unresolved, with no specific product presentations offered. A company spokeswoman said Thursday that those brands would not be fully eliminated.

FCA shares fell 7.2 percent to close the day at $21.55.

Marchionne said he was puzzled by the stock drop, asking whether he had issued any bad news. 

Executives downplayed the possibility the Alfa Romeo and Maserati brands could be combined in one unit, leading to an eventual value-creating spinoff. "We will own these assets and build them into businesses that return yields we have talked about," Marchionne said, labeling as "speculation" any discussion on separating those businesses.

"Marchionne unveiled an ambitious and solid plan which confirmed all the expectations from investors,” said Vincenzo Longo, a strategist at IG Group in Milan “Still, Marchionne didn’t provide any icing on the cake which would have been a big M&A deal, which is what the market was dreaming for." The financial targets were “more conservative than expected,” said analyst Adam Jonas at Morgan Stanley.

-- Automotive News staff and Bloomberg

11:23 am ET -- FCA's future 

Marchionne and Fiat Chrysler Chairman John Elkann rebuffed questions from investors about the future of the automaker after the CEO retires next year. One analyst suggested it was unorthodox for the CEO with no skin in the game to present a five-year plan without identifying a successor.

Marchionne, waxing philosophical, said Fiat Chrysler’s culture after its brushes with survival relies heavily on improvisation, even invoking composer Bobby McFerrin, whose biggest hit was “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” “I would count on my successor to adapt the plan as he chooses, but fundamentally, the call has been made” on the company’s strategy.

Elkann, scion of Fiat’s founding Agnelli family, tried to put to rest suggestions that the company would be sold after Marchionne’s departure.

“We’ve been with the company for over 100 years,” he said. Over 20 years’ involvement starting with Fiat SpA, “I have never seen a brighter future.” While the Agnellis have been open to combinations that would strengthen the manufacturer, “we wouldn’t envisage as a family to really put ourselves in a selling position.”

10:06 a.m. ET -- Diesel phaseout, more electrification

Fiat Chrysler will phase out production of all diesel passenger cars in Europe by 2021, Marchionne said. The company sees the engine technology as increasingly challenged by both regulation and consumer attitudes, and of declining importance.

At the same time, the company will invest 9 billion euros ($10.5 billion) in electrification through 2022 Marchionne: “This is a systemic change” in the automotive market. He confirmed the reduction of the Fiat lineup to emphasize the 500 family and Panda, focus Western European production on premium models, and Punto to be discontinued. Fiat plans a full electric lineup around the 500 family. He said the company expects full utilization of Italian plants by 2022.

-- Bloomberg

10:01 a.m. ET -- Autonomy, Connectivity 

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Technology overview presentation

 

Fiat Chrysler will work with multiple partners to develop autonomous vehicles. In addition to the expanded partnership with Google’s Waymo announced on Thursday, the company has partnered with BMW AG and supplier Aptiv Plc.

With Waymo, FCA will take on more customization and development duties. The companies will collaborate on a Waymo-equipped premium-model autonomous vehicle. Level 4 autonomous systems will be available on some some FCA cars by around 2023. The systems will cost about $30,000 initially, reducing to about $10,000 over time. An FCA connectivity platform will be launched in April 2019 and be available on all new cars by 2021. The system is designed to integrate with any service provider.

-- Bloomberg

9:41 a.m. ET -- Earnings goals outlined

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Financial overview presentation

 

Adjusted earnings before interest and other expenses will rise to between 13 billion and 16 billion euros ($15.2 billion to $18.7 billion) by 2022, up from about 6.6 billion in 2017. The 2017 figure excludes the Magneti Marelli parts unit that Fiat Chrysler plans to spin off at the beginning of 2019. Fiat Chrysler also said it will spend about 45 billion euros on capital investments as it tries to harness an evolving automotive market place driven by electrification, connected services and self-driving cars.

Earlier, Marchionne declared victory over one of his long-held and most ambitious goals -- to rid the automaker of net industrial debt this year.

“I expect that when we close the books at the end of June, we will report a net industrial cash position,” Marchionne said as he kicked off his final strategic road map presentation for the Italian-American automaker before retiring early next year.

-- Bloomberg

8:50 a.m. ET -- Palmer confirms plan for captive financing unit

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Captive finance presentation

 

Chief Financial Officer Richard Palmer, confirming a Bloomberg report earlier this week, said Fiat Chrysler plans to form a captive financial unit in the U.S. The company has an option to buy out its existing partner, Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc., and has initiated discussions, Palmer said. Such a move could add $500 million to $800 million in incremental pretax earnings within four years, he said. Fiat could also start its own business, in which case the company envisions about $100 million in incremental profit.

A captive finance unit will allow Fiat Chrysler to “participate more fully in capturing value from emerging platforms,” Palmer said, for example by securitizing vehicle fleets and offering access to service providers on a per-mile basis.

Santander Consumer issued a statement saying it will hold a conference call to discuss the matter at noon New York time.

-- Bloomberg

7:34 a.m. ET - Alfa's global plan lowers volume expectations

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Alfa Romeo presentation

 

Fiat Chrysler presented its latest ambitious plan for Alfa Romeo -- a plan that looks similar to one presented in 2014, albeit with a global volume of 400,000 instead of 700,000.

New Alfa Romeo head Tim Kuniskis said the brand would reintroduce the 8C luxury sedan, eliminate the small and aging MiTo in the subcompact segment, refresh the Giulia and Stelvio and add a larger crossover to its lineup by 2022. Kuniskis also promised to bring back the GTV on a new sports car, and that Alfa would add stretched wheelbase versions of most vehicles to its lineup.

“Not surprisingly, much of this five-year plan is very ambitious, as have been FCA plans of the past,” said KBB.com Senior Analyst Michelle Krebs.

If analysts and journalists gathered to hear FCA’s latest business plan were skeptical, they had every right to be. Alfa Romeo’s last five-year plan in 2014 predicted global volumes of 700,000 and eight new vehicles for the resurrected brand by 2018. Those vehicles -- and global sales rates -- have not materialized.

-- Larry Vellequette

6:18 a.m. ET - Maserati plans Tesla fighter sports coupe; 32 more dealerships slated in North America

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Maserati presentation

 

Maserati plans to add 32 dealerships in North America by 2022, and will aim squarely at Tesla with a new high-performance plug-in electric hybrid sport coupe based on the Alfieri concept, new brand head Tim Kuniskis said.

The brand will move from 153 to 185 dealerships in North America by 2022 as part of an ambitious plan to double worldwide volume in that timeframe with a new lineup, he said.

The all-wheel-drive EV will come in a droptop model as well and will feature an aluminum frame for weight savings, with a top speed above 186 mph. It will replace the GranTurismo in Maserati’s lineup.

Maserati will also launch a new midsize crossover plug-in hybrid by 2022, slotting below the Levante, Kuniskis said. Kuniskis, the former head of Dodge, said the new crossover would feature 50/50 weight distribution and a best-in-class power-to-weight ratio to boost its performance against competitors in the crowded segment. The same attributes will be imbued into new planned versions of the Levante and Quattroporte, which are planned to appear in the next four years.

Kuniskis said Maserati would eliminate use of diesel powertrains in its vehicles, although diesel Maseratis are not available in the United States, in favor of a greener move to plug-in hybrids and full electrics. He said Maserati would offer four full-electric models, and eight hybrids by 2022, but combustion engine powertrains would come from Ferrari.

Kuniskis said Maserati volumes should top 100,000 units by 2022, double the brand’s current volume.

-- Larry Vellequette

5:50 a.m. ET -- Ram's expanded truck lineup will add midsize pickup

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Ram presentation

 

Ram will bring a production model of its 2015 Ram TRX off-road pickup to market, aiming squarely to take on the popular Ford F-150 Raptor, Ram brand head Mike Manley told investors today in Balocco, Italy.

The move is intended to aid Ram’s average transaction price, which lags major competitors from Ford and Chevrolet largely because of the age of the old model Ram 1500 pickup, Manley said. He said Raptor transacts at a level that is $28,000 above Ford’s average in the segment. Manley said he believes Ram can achieve similar results with the TRX, which features a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 engine.

The brand also hopes to improve its pricing with the introduction in 2019 of a new Heavy Duty version of its Ram pickup, which will significantly update the technology of its existing line. The current Heavy Duty Ram transacts at an average of $50,000, about even with Chevrolet, but far below the $56,000 average enjoyed by Ford in the segment, Manley said.

Manley also promised that Ram would enter the midsize pickup race soon, joining the Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon and the return of the Ford Ranger. He did not say if the new midsize pickup would revive the Dakota nameplate used when pickups were under the Dodge brand.

On the commercial van side, FCA will bring a new version of the Ram ProMaster City, its small commercial van, by 2022, but will leave the current larger ProMaster commercial van, without a significant update, Manley said.

-- Larry Vellequette

5:22 a.m. ET -- Jeep launches broad expansion of North American products, electrification, subscription services

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Jeep presentation

 

Jeep will expand its model portfolio in North America, electrify all of its vehicles in some way, and then open a subscription service and other sharing options to allow its fan base access to those vehicles, according to a product plan presented Friday in Balocco, Italy.

Jeep brand head Mike Manley told investors that the marque plans to expand its global lineup into the smaller A-segment market -- a move it's considered for several years. Jeep also will broaden its portfolio in North America with a new three-row version of the Grand Cherokee, as well as a return of the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer.

Manley said the brand will electrify all of the vehicles in its portfolio in some fashion by 2022, with 10 plug-in hybrid versions and four full-electric models by 2022. The brand will also launch subscription and mobility services in North America to allow Jeep fans full access to its models. Jeep will also begin offering use-based insurance, important for off-roading, and fleet management for the first time, Manley said.

Globally, the longtime Jeep brand boss said he sees Jeep, which now represents one in 17 sales of utility vehicles globally, expanding by 2022 to account for one in 12 utility vehicle sales globally, a goal that analysts onsite called "ambitious." The brand over the long term aims for 20 percent of the global utility market, which has been a long-term goal since Manley assumed control of Jeep in 2009.

-- Larry Vellequette