PuntoSS said:

Hmm, a question I'd love to know the answer to:

There's a downturn in car markets, a recession - as it were, how come virtually every car manufacturer seems to be struggling, yet FIAT can afford to buy out Chrysler in the USA and Opel-Vauxhall in the EU and the UK?

Surely this will be putting money strains under pressure for Fiat having to pay for investment in these companies and thus being parent company, having to invest money into them forever...
Just where did all their money come from?

It might be that everyone is buying Fiats during the recession due to the fact they're cheap to run and very economical and so Fiat are gaining more customers and the other brands are losing out, therefore Fiat make more profits?

Although I'd of thought there would have been more to it than that?

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I believe Fiat still owes alot of money from its years of struggling, but both the Chrysler & Vauxhall/Opel deals are supported by Government loans, which is why it's possible for Fiat to consider it.

Personally i think it's very daft and i think Fiat are trying to prove a point which will be their un-doing.

Chrysler i can understand, but what do they need from Vauxhall/Opel? Fiats cars are already more stylish, as reliable, as safe and more pioneering.

Plus, some of Vauxhalls best engines are Fiat units (think 1.3 'CDTI') and some of Fiat/Alfas worst engines are GM units, so its not like Fiat need any engine know-how.

All of Fiats small cars are decent selling (like how many Agila models do you see on the roads compared to Pandas & 500s? Not alot)

The Punto is a consistent strong seller, even in the UK where Fiat has struggled at times.

Fiats MPV ranges seem to do fairly well, the Doblo seems to still be selling well now, and that was launched in 2001. The only reason the Multipla didnt do better was its unusual looks, not because of any engineering mistakes.

The only cars of Fiats that dont sell as well as they ought to are the Bravo & Croma sized cars. And i think thats more to do with reputation rather than anything that a merger with Opel can put right.

Besides, if Fiat actually bothered to advertise the Bravo & Croma it would be a start to more sales, rather than messing about turning a Bravo into an Astra.

The one big thing Fiat will gain by acquiring Opel is around 2 million more sales per year. Included in that is better access to Northern European markets where Opel & Vauxhall are stronger than Fiat. Consolidation will allow them to make and sell those extra 2 million cars for less than Opel currently spend.

So more cars sold, for less money spent.

Don't ask "what will Fiat cars gain from the deal?", but "What will FIAT S.p.A gain?"

ducasi said:

The one big thing Fiat will gain by acquiring Opel is around 2 million more sales per year. Included in that is better access to Northern European markets where Opel & Vauxhall are stronger than Fiat. Consolidation will allow them to make and sell those extra 2 million cars for less than Opel currently spend.

So more cars sold, for less money spent.

Don't ask "what will Fiat cars gain from the deal?", but "What will FIAT S.p.A gain?"

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I suppose that makes sense--I really didn't know that FIAT's brands weren't as strong as they could be in northern europe. Of course it's not surprising that I was clueless, given that all my info about europe's car markets comes from an assortment of UK TV shows