Fiat Chrysler merger finally starting to bloom in Italy - Detroit Free Press
MELFI & MILAN, ITALY -- On a cool summer day last month about 250 autoworkers arrived at the Jeep plant in Melfi for their first day, another real sign the 6-year-old Fiat-Chrysler merger is finally benefiting Italy. The plant now employs nearly 7,700, runs three shifts and exports Jeep Renegade SUVs and Fiat 500 crossovers to North America. In Milan, just two days after the new Jeep workers were hired, FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne and Chairman John Elkann unveiled the Alfa Romeo Giulia before a crowd of hundreds. Marchionne and Elkann, used the Alfa Romeo event to assure Italians that the automaker is committed to the home country. Workers and residents have worried the new Fiat Chrysler was pulling away from Italy, caring more about investment in North America, South America and Asia. , where most Chrysler employees are based. The search for a partner comes just months after Marchionne and Elkann renamed the automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, moved its official headquarters to London and incorporated the combined company in the Netherlands. Marchionne also listed new FCA stock on the New York Stock Exchange -- a move that over time will shift the shareholder profile away from the Milan Stock Exchange. Source: www.freep.com
