FCA - Product Plan (Notizie - Riassunto a pag. 1)

[pennellotref]

Marchionne: 400,000 annual Alfa sales realistic - motoring.com.au

Marchionne: 400,000 annual Alfa sales realistic

Fiat-Chrysler boss bullish about Alfa Romeo's lofty global sales targets, bolstered by German-rivalling products and substantial volume potential in the US

Fiat-Chrysler chief executive Sergio Marchionne says quality and dynamics to match – or even better – the German prestige brands will be one of the cornerstones of Alfa Romeo's bullish plans to grow annual sales from 74,000 units last year to 400,000 cars by 2018.

The storied Italian marque is investing in excess of 5 billion euros in developing eight all-new models that will spearhead the assault, and Marchionne insisted in a freewheeling Q&A at the Paris motor show that the almost six-fold growth objective wasn't a pie-in-the-sky target.

In addition to a revamped model range, the other key to the massive sales expansion is to capture a healthy slice of the North American prestige market, leveraging off Chrysler's distribution network.

Alfa Romeo formerly had a presence in the US market, but pulled out in the mid-1990s as sales slumped due to an uncompetitive model range with a reputation for abysmal quality and reliability.

The brand recently re-entered North America with the 4C (priced from $US55,195), and the next salvo – believed to be an all-new sedan to rival the BMW 3 Series/Merc C-Class/Jaguar XE/Audi A4 – is set to be revealed on June 24, 2015.

Despite Alfa's two-decade absence from the US, Marchionne insists lack of awareness of the brand and its colourful heritage – particularly among younger buyers – won't be an issue.

"I grew up in North America and I guarantee [buyers there] will remember Alfa, and it's not an age issue," he said. "I think there's a better depth of understanding of Alfa in the US than you can surmise, certainly based on the length of time it's been absent.

"I won't take issue with fact that Alfa has a 'tarnished reputation', and it also [currently] has a limited number of products in the market. I've openly admitted that Alfa was a remake story and that Alfa had to be rebuilt and that we had to go back to some fundamental, key elements of the DNA of that brand.

Marchionne points to Jeep as a "parallel example" of what could be achieved with Alfa.

"When we got involved with Chrysler in 2009 we were selling roughly 200,000 Jeeps. And I remind everybody in this room that Jeep was [formerly] owned by a very competent auto maker across the border here who tried for years to grow it.

"So the, the DNA of Jeep did not transform itself post-bankruptcy and, and certainly not since I got involved in the business, but since we took it over, it went from about 200,000 vehicles to 732,000 in 2013. It's going to break 1,000,000 this year. So miracles of the ones that I made reference to are possible.

"The question is, is it likely [with Alfa]? The [successful] positioning of Alfa, in my view is contingent on two things, the ability to distribute it effectively, but more importantly it hinges on product and whether it can effectively pitch itself against German benchmark performance.

"In the absence of Chrysler, I think that the 400,000 figure that I gave you would have been an absolute nonsensical number. I could never [have suggested it] if we didn't have access to distribution in NAFTA, which the association with Chrysler has given us.

"And so our network is going to be developed from the best of breed from the US side, and it will give us the necessary capacity to make sure that if we have the product then we can effectively distribute and achieve penetration as desired.

"The more fundamental question, which I think is the one that we have been working at very diligently over the last two-and-a-half years is the product itself – product and powertrain.

"And for that I can only threaten you with a reveal of a decent product on June 24, 2015. I cannot tell you anything else other than the fact that I know what we've done.

"So I just ask you to bear with me while I continue to toil away to make that this damn thing run. I was at the circuit on Sunday, and I test drove the mules, some of which had similar technology [that will be used in production models].

"I think we're making great progress towards getting to the right end. I was a driver of German makes before I went to Fiat, so I think I understand. I used to drive a BMW M5 when I was young and foolish, and I always recognised that they had phenomenal know-how and I used to love the car.

"And I've driven other [German contenders], and I can tell you honestly that, based on what I've seen, we're on a par, if not better. Just give us time.

"You'll have a chance to drive the hell out of it and find out whether it really will withstand a head-to-head competition with the German competition. Just wait, we're less than a year away."

Maglione "il bullo"

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http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2014/10/chart-day-u-s-auto-market-share-september-2014/

Chart Of The Day: U.S. Auto Market Share – September 2014

By Timothy Cain on October 4, 2014

Auto sales in the United States rose 9.4% compared with September 2013 to 1.245M in September 2014. Pickup trucks climbed above 190,000 units for the third consecutive month. The Honda Accord unseated the Toyota Camry for the second time in two months. Chrysler Group used pickup trucks, minivans, and Jeep to generate 68% of the company’s volume as their car sales slid 7%.

Chrysler Group’s market share increased to a Toyota-beating 13.6% from 12.6% a year ago and 12.5% in August of this year. GM’s market share grew to 17.9% from 16.4% in September 2013 as Silverado volume shot up by more than 50%. Ford Motor Company, on the other hand, suffered a decline in market share, falling from 16.2% in September of last year and 15.5% in August of this year to 14.4% in September 2014.

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures.

Me' cojon !!!!!

P.S.: certo, poi la redditività dice altro. Però......

Modificato 4 Ottobre 2014 da pennellotref

[McNab]

I was at the circuit on Sunday, and I test drove the mules, some of which had similar technology [that will be used in production models].

Guido(nne)

[Ospite]

Marchionne stasera alla Gabbia??? (LA7)

[ruggero]

Può andare anche a Lourdes , ma per certa gente rimane quello che " prende i soldi dallo stato e chiude le fabbriche ":(r

[Archaon]

Marchionne: 400,000 annual Alfa sales realistic - motoring.com.au

Maglione "il bullo"

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Chart Of The Day: U.S. Auto Market Share ? September 2014 | The Truth About Cars

Me' cojon !!!!!

P.S.: certo, poi la redditività dice altro. Però......

E cosa dice la redditività? ci sono dati a riguardo.

[pennellotref]

E cosa dice la redditività? ci sono dati a riguardo.

FCA al momento è al 4.7% (+1% rispetto allo scorso anno), Ford, se non ricordo male, è sopra il 7,5%, GM vicino al 9%. Toyota, l'11% (numeri 1 al mondo al momento).

[Archaon]

FCA al momento è al 4.7% (+1% rispetto allo scorso anno), Ford, se non ricordo male, è sopra il 7,5%, GM vicino al 9%. Toyota, l'11% (numeri 1 al mondo al momento).

Ti ricordi in quale articolo vengono citati questi dati ?

[AleMcGir]

Marchionne Says He’s ‘Done’ After 2018 Fiat Chrysler Plan

Sergio Marchionne, Fiat SpA (F)’s chief executive officer and the architect of its merger with Chrysler, plans to step down after completing a five-year strategic plan to expand the combined carmakers.

“I’ll undoubtedly do something else” after the end of 2018, Marchionne, 62, said last week in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek at the Balocco test track in northern Italy. “I am not going to do any more turnarounds. I’m done; let some of the young punks do it.”

Since taking charge of Fiat in June 2004, Marchionne has tripled the Italian company’s revenue and operating profit. Now, with the merger into London-based Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, his goal is to boost net income fivefold to about 5 billion euros ($6.3 billion) in 2018.

The goal is underpinned by a 48 billion-euro investment program that calls for developing more upscale vehicles, including new Alfa Romeo models built in Italy, and increasing Jeep’s sales to 1.9 million cars by expanding the brand outside North America.

Marchionne, the longest serving CEO of any major European automaker, says his role may be split among more than one executive.

“There are a number of things that the next CEO will do which are totally different from what I do,” he said, while sipping espresso on the veranda of the 19th-century farmhouse at the center of the Balocco track. “The role as presently configured will have to be reconfigured.”

Strong Candidates

Chairman John Elkann, 38, isn’t a candidate. The leading member of the Agnelli clan, which founded Fiat and is still the company’s biggest shareholder, plans to maintain the current arrangement of having a family member as chairman and a professional manager as leader of the group.

“The most important thing is clarity,” Elkann, who hired Marchionne from Swiss testing company SGS SA (SGSN), said at the Balocco track. The family’s non-executive role “has worked well.”

Elkann last year mentioned executives such as CNH Industrial CEO Richard Tobin; Alfredo Altavilla, Fiat’s European chief; Mike Manley, head of the Jeep brand; and Cledorvino Belini, head of Fiat in Brazil, as managers who could eventually replace Marchionne.

“I’m comfortable with the bench we have,” Elkann said at a separate meeting in his Turin office, which had previously been occupied by his grandfather, former Fiat Chairman Gianni Agnelli. “We have strong candidates,” he said, declining to comment on specific people.

Marchionne, who calls Switzerland home even as he shuttles between Turin, Detroit and elsewhere, says he looks forward to having time to devote to other interests such as theoretical physics.

“You’re asking me if there are other things I like to do apart from this?,” said the former philosophy student, before lighting another Muratti cigarette. “Phenomenally, yes. I like to be able to think, and that’s not always possible in this job.”

Marchionne Says He?s ?Done? After 2018 Fiat Chrysler Plan - Businessweek

Modificato 8 Ottobre 2014 da AleMcGir

[Giò]

La questione è come sembra indicare Marchionne che se Alfa venderà venderà grazie al mercato e alla rete americani.

Confermando quindi l'inesistenza di una rete in grado di fare bene in Europa. E' la verità, quello che mi sorprende

è capire se ce la si può fare in questo modo ovvero senza quasi il mercato europeo, che per quanto in calo non credo

sia marginale per il tipo di segmento. Io credo che ci vogliano tanti anni e tanti soldi. Staremo a vedere.

Modificato 9 Ottobre 2014 da Giò

[Trucido]

La questione è come sembra indicare Marchionne che se Alfa venderà venderà grazie al mercato e alla rete americano.

Confermando quindi l'inesistenza di una rete in grado di fare bene in Europa. E' la verità, quello che mi sorprende

è capire se ce la si può fare in questo modo ovvero senza quasi il mercato europeo, che per quanto in calo non credo

sia marginale per il tipo di segmento. Io credo che ci vogliano tanti anno e tanti soldi. Staremo a vedere.

Mercato europeo é in ripresa.

Marchionne si dimette, festa in Italia...

T!