Hyundai reportedly eyeing a takeover of F.C.A.

[Kia Stinger]

Filed under: Chrysler,Fiat,Hyundai,Jeep,RAM

Hyundai's CEO wants to launch the bid before Sergio Marchionne retires.
Continue reading Hyundai reportedly eyeing a takeover of F.C.A.

Hyundai reportedly eyeing a takeover of F.C.A. originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 29 Jun 2018 14:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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[StingEm]

Looks like the forum software needs a little better training on its “helper” scripts, lol.

FCA = Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles

 

[Kia Stinger]

Looks like the forum software needs a little better training on its “helper” scripts, lol.

FCA (Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist) = Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles

I fixed it!

Interesting news, though...

 

[Eugene Onegin]

Maybe it would be a improvement .

 

[A Member Who Left]

Upgrade for F.C.A. Downgrade for Hyundai. Lol

 

[Weareblondi]

sad for chrysler, meh on fiat and happy for hyundai. go for it! they probably will make it super profitable again after all the takeover fiasco's. now, a hellcat/demon engine in the stinger. i can make it fit, stuffed an vette v8 in a land rover 110, an old camaro tpi 350 into a volvo. originally tried to stuff that 350 tpi into a vw beetle, but after all the cutting and roll cage work to the interior, the car split into two pieces. try explaining that to your buddies g.f, it was her car. we borrowed it for the week while she was on vacation with her family. and i think, and i am not an suv person even though i have had a fair number of them, the durango would look super mean with a stinger-ish front. kind of like the levante but tougher.

 

[eflyguy]

Don't know what I think, honestly - I certainly don't understand why the manufacturer of the top three "name plate" brands wants to buy a manufacturer of some of the lowest ranked brands. Perhaps they can bring their quality and value to the equation..

 

[MerlintheMad]

@eflyguy: It isn't a failing company, is it? Just not a top rated one. Hyundai can fix that. I haven't heard (but haven't been listening either) that Chrysler is about to die.

 

[eflyguy]

Didn't say anything about them failing, just that they are the lowest ranked by JD power in terms of reliability, and don't even make the list for "nameplate rankings". Same with Fiat.

 

[CaliSting]

Don't know what I think, honestly - I certainly don't understand why the manufacturer of the top three "name plate" brands wants to buy a manufacturer of some of the lowest ranked brands. Perhaps they can bring their quality and value to the equation..

Are you kidding? Iconic brands such as Ram, Jeep and Dodge? Huge US domestic Truck and large SUV sales that Hyundai and Kia have missed. Commercial truck operations as well ....massive dealer network. Not many pay attention to silly JD power quality ratings. Perhaps Hyundai and Kia wanting to share in Coolness of US brands .

 

[Weareblondi]

i agree, to a point. other than the big ram trucks, the wrangler, and the hellcat/demon/srt twins there isn't much that is noteworthy. the 300 is the last gen mercedes e class chassis. sucked as a mercedes great as a chrysler. fiat is basically a non-entity. other than the 500, which was cute for a second, it isn't burning to the top in quality. so, on the one hand, it will infuse fca with much needed quality controls and allow hyundai/kia access to proven 4x4 tech. as for the silly jd power quality ratings....do you really like having to repair the crap that the manufacturers didn't get around to? how long was gm not on that list before they figured out their market shared was suffering? too long, they got their heads out of their asses and started listening and now they are #4 ( i think) and yes, as a former owner of way too many camaros, i can tell you that a cool car starts to get really boring when the mods i make last longer than the actual car. but, look at the zl1, the ss, etc, those are cars worthy of being american made. the vette also, i don't care about the what used to be called the amercan sports car, it was a pig. couldn't stop, couldn't turn and the interior was old when it was new. now, story has changed. so, it might seem silly to look at the jd power, but that speaks volumes about how long the brand will last. ooops, just fell off my soapbox

 

[eflyguy]

Not many pay attention to silly JD power quality ratings.

You might want to look beyond the stupid TV ads. Hyundai is a client of JDP consulting, as is virtually every other automaker, and major brand in every industry from energy to transportation to technology to retail around the globe. They are a very influential market research firm, and use data collected from consumers (in the case of the auto quality rankings) which, again, ranks those brands as the worst.

Successful brands use the data to stay successful. Struggling brands use it to try and get better.

 

[eflyguy]

how long was gm not on that list before they figured out their market shared was suffering?

There's a story along the lines of JDP telling the CEO of GM, in the 80's I believe, that their market share would drop to 30% in 10 years, at which he and other US brand executives laughed. JDP did end up being wrong - it only took 8 years.

 

[CaliSting]

You might want to look beyond the stupid TV ads. Hyundai is a client of JDP consulting, as is virtually every other automaker, and major brand in every industry from energy to transportation to technology to retail around the globe. They are a very influential market research firm, and use data collected from consumers (in the case of the auto quality rankings) which, again, ranks those brands as the worst.

Successful brands use the data to stay successful. Struggling brands use it to try and get better.

Doesn’t really matter what I think. Data indicates people aren’t considering JD Power initial quality surveys when they buy record numbers of Jeep Wranglers and Cherokees each year. Jeep brand in general has been hitting it out of park for sales. Ram trucks selling in record numbers too. Hyundai hasn’t been able to effectively break into true off-road or bigger SUV or Truck market in US. Fiat Cars America acquisition provides these key market seqgement leading companies to them. Dodge with Mopar performance division is still very attractive marketing proposition with years of history and a fanatical customer base if they could get some new platforms under their cars. Not to mention Iconic Hemi engines. Jeep, Ram and Dodge all have something Hyundai lacks. Their cars evoke passion from consumers.

Yes common sense says manufacturers care about quality. Although these days quality is so subjective. I have owned driven lowest JD Power quality cars and highest and ownership experience wasn’t much different for me as a consumer.

Chrysler and Fiat distribution pieces don’t make much sense to me however. Chrysler is sort of dying brand and Fiat just hasn’t figured out US market well. I mean how do you take Miata and sell fewer units than Mazda as an Italian company? Fiat could have hit it out of the park if they had styled and marketed the Miata based 124 better.

I think funniest thing if Hyundai buys them they will still have cars based on Mercedes, Fiat and Alfa Romeo platforms while they bring in Hyundai and Kia platforms.

 

[eflyguy]

I agree with much of what you say, but there's a factor I don't think you're considering - these brands don't just sell the performance/iconic models. Jeep and the Wrangler, absolutely. But both Chrysler and Dodge (including RAM) have been on a steady decline for the past 5 years, to the point where the number of wranglers alone sold last year just about matches the total number of all Chrysler models - a dying brand for sure. RAM by themselves is just now getting back to sales levels of the early 2000's - yes, higher, so "a record", but only by a small amount. Considering the global increase in auto sales, I wouldn't be too impressed.

You're right that most consumers are not proactively researching the rankings, but the advertisers do try to influence using that data - and they wouldn't be paying for the data and advice from companies like JDP if they didn't have a track record of knowing the value of each.

 

[westcoastGT]

Huge operational efficiencies if merged , gets Hyundai into some key gowth /profit segments they dont occupy now and likely all at a value . They can sell off non strategic brands to China and India as well .

 

[YEH]

If such an acquisition (or merger) were to occur would carry significant risks for Hyundai, the largest being the legacy costs of Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat.

Jeep would be the driving force behind such a move by Hyundai, followed by RAM.

Don't see much of a future for Chrysler as Dodge can fill that market segment (the starting price of the Charger is right in the ballpark of where the 300 starts), and Dodge, Alfa Romeo and Maserati all need significant investment.

Being a higher-end lux brand (like Aston), Maserati doesn't compete directly w/ Genesis, but AR does.

While there is no real need for AR, guess Genesis and AR can do what H/K do by sharing platforms/powertrains.

Would love to see Hyundai make Lancia viable again, but can't see that happening as there would already be too many mouths/brands to feed.

 

[CaliSting]

I agree with much of what you say, but there's a factor I don't think you're considering - these brands don't just sell the performance/iconic models. Jeep and the Wrangler, absolutely. But both Chrysler and Dodge (including RAM) have been on a steady decline for the past 5 years, to the point where the number of wranglers alone sold last year just about matches the total number of all Chrysler models - a dying brand for sure. RAM by themselves is just now getting back to sales levels of the early 2000's - yes, higher, so "a record", but only by a small amount. Considering the global increase in auto sales, I wouldn't be too impressed.

You're right that most consumers are not proactively researching the rankings, but the advertisers do try to influence using that data - and they wouldn't be paying for the data and advice from companies like JDP if they didn't have a track record of knowing the value of each.

Ram sold over 500k trucks last year 2000 they sold less than 385k? On target to go above 500k this year again. Not to mention numerous industry awards they have garnered in 2018. They are on fire!

Jeep sold around 95k wranglers in 2000 and almost 200k 2017. Jeep sold well over 400,000 Jeep Cherokees and Grand Cherokee premium SUVs in 2017. All high margin vehicles. Hardly stuff of failing business.

Dodge sells over 150,000 rear wheel drive GT cars across its Charger and challenger models. Sort of makes Stinger look like a joke.

With cash infusion from Hyundai I see only more success! I’m planning on buying new wrangler in future. And new Dodge Demon replacement at $20k less MSRP looks like a bargain! May even trade Stinger for it!

 

[MerlintheMad]

Demon, heh. Take a road trip in that!

 

[eflyguy]