Fiat Chrysler's Sergio Marchionne Wanted To Merge With GM, But Got Shot Down ... - The Car Connection
It's unclear how they came to learn of Marchionne's request -- whether they worked for FCA or GM or some other party. There had been no PowerPoint presentations, no conference calls, no meet-ups between the two companies' boards. The pitch just came. Second, it came via email. Third, the email went directly to Mary Barra, whom Marchionne had never met. You've seen me. Let's hook up. ". To be sure, the email made an impression, and by all accounts, Barra discussed the pros and cons of a GM-FCA merger with her key staff and board members. However, in fairly short order, she sent Marchionne a rejection letter, denying his request for a face-to-face meeting on the matter. But while Marchionne may have taken GM off his list of potential mates, he's continuing to talk about match-ups. FCA isn't performing as well as many of its competitors , even though it has a couple of strong brands -- especially Jeep. Partnering with another automaker would give the partner a number of good auto lines and give FCA more capital. FCA needs that capital because of what Marchionne sees as. Source: www.thecarconnection.com
