Paris: Shareholders of French automaker PSA voted on Monday to approve a merger with the US-Italian group Fiat Chrysler, a move that catapults the new company, “Stellantis”, into the fourth position of the world’s carmakers by volume. Approval for the three merger resolutions tabled at PSA’s annual shareholder meeting — held online — was nearly unanimous, PSA chief Carlos Tavares said. Fiat Chrysler shareholders are due to begin voting on the deal at 2:30 pm (1330 GMT), and Tavares said the date for making the merger operational would be announced “very soon”.
The outcome of the votes was seen as a foregone conclusion, coming two weeks after the European Commission gave conditional approval to the deal announced in late 2019. The 50/50 tie-up, which was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, is considered crucial for the two groups to undertake investments needed to transition to clean car technology. It also allows Fiat Chrysler to strengthen its presence in Europe, while the French group will regain a foothold in the US.
“This merger is a matter of survival for both Fiat and PSA,” said Giuliano Noci, a professor of strategy at Milan Business School, citing “enormous technological and strategic challenges” faced by both as well as damage wrought by the pandemic. The accord brings together PSA’s Peugeot, Citroen and other brands with Fiat Chrysler’s stable that includes their namesake brands as well as Jeep, Alfa Romeo and Maserati. By number of cars sold, Stellantis and its workforce of over 400,000 will now rank behind Volkswagen, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, and Toyota — though it will be the third-largest automaker by revenue. PSA and Fiat expect the merger to allow them to achieve billions of euros in synergies each year. “Only the most agile, with a Darwinian spirit, will survive,” PSA chief Carlos Tavares, who will take the helm of the merged group, said in November.
The European Commission had been worried the merger could affect competition in Europe’s lucrative van market, with PSA and FCA together accounting for 34 percent of market share. To assuage those concerns, the commission said PSA would continue an agreement with Toyota to manufacture vans to be sold under the Japanese brand in Europe. The disruptions wrought by Covid-19, which ground manufacturing to a halt for several weeks in the first half of 2020, forced PSA and Fiat to change the terms of their tie-up to ensure it remained a merger of equals.
FCA agreed to lower an exceptional dividend to be distributed to shareholders, while PSA agreed to share its 46-percent stake in French automotive equipment maker Faurecia among all shareholders of the new company, rather than its shareholders alone as agreed previously. The two companies have so far shown relative resilience in the face of the pandemic.
Nisaan, dealer partners to hire 1,500 workers
New Delhi: Japanese auto major Nissan on Monday said it along with its dealer partners will hire 1,500 people in India to enhance production and reinforce sales force on the back of robust response to its newly launched compact SUV Magnite. The company plans to start a third shift at its Chennai plant to increase output of Magnite to around 3,500-4,000 units per month by February from the current level of about 2,500 units per month. Nissan Motor India has received around 32,800 bookings for Magnite since launching it on December 2 and the waiting period currently stretches to several months.
“We would like the customers to enjoy their Magnite at the earliest and towards that we are working towards enhancing the production. We plan to start a third shift at the plant and towards the same will be recruiting almost 1,000 plus workforce at the plant,” Nissan Motor India managing director Rakesh Srivastava told reporters in a virtual press conference. Another 500 workforce would also be added at the company’s dealerships to enhance customer experience, he added.
The company’s plan is in contrast to its announcement in 2019 to cut over 1,700 jobs in India, mostly in manufacturing operations, as part of a global exercise to reduce headcount by over 6,000 across different locations. Nissan India currently produces around 2,500 Magnite units per month which would go up to 3,500 to 4,000 units after the third shift comes into play, Srivastava said. “We aim to bring down the waiting period on the model to 2-3 months,” he added. The Renault-Nissan alliance has an installed annual capacity of 4.8 lakh units at Chennai plant, and exports to over 100 countries.
Srivastava said that barring entry level Magnite trim, the company would not be increasing prices of other variants of the compact sport utility vehicle (SUV). “We have decided we will not be increasing the prices of Magnite for most of the variants other than the entry trim,” he said. The company had earlier announced to hike prices of its vehicles by up to 5 per cent across models from January to offset the increased input costs.
Commenting on export strategy, Srivastava said the company is looking to dispatch Magnite to Indonesia and South Africa. “We have identified these two markets for Magnite exports, although our prime focus would remain to cater to the domestic market,” he added.
When asked about company’s other products like Datsun RediGo and GO Plus, Srivastava said the models have been upgraded to comply with the new BS-VI emission norms and other safety standards, and would continue in the market. Commenting on the company’s future product plans, Srivastava said with SUVs being the most sought after, not just globally but also in India, Nissan will rely on its global portfolio of SUVs and will bring appropriate product at the right time. For electric vehicles, he said Nissan has demonstrated the technology through its Leaf model, but there are challenges currently in India in terms of charging infrastructure and supply chain for batteries, and the company would continue to evaluate the market.
Ford India unveils 2021 line-up of compact SUV EcoSport
Mumbai: Ford India on Monday introduced the 2021 line-up of its compact SUV EcoSport with features such as sunroof in the Titanium Trim, enhanced connectivity features and an enhanced warranty at a starting price of Rs 7.99 lakh. The SUV comes in five trims — Ambiente, Titanium, Titanium +, Trend and Sports, according to a release. The American car maker, which recently called off its proposed partnership with domestic auto major Mahindra & Mahindra, had rolled out the sub-4 meter SUV EcoSport first time in the Indian market in June 2013.
Ford’s product portfolio in India currently comprises six cars — Figo, Freestyle, Aspire, EcoSport, Endeavour and Mustang. “In the tradition of bringing what consumers want and value, we are happy to bolster the EcoSport line-up and make every variant compelling in terms of features and value,” said Vinay Raina, executive director Marketing, Sales and Service at Ford India. “With the new line-up, we have not just addressed the customer feedback on making sunroof and key features more accessible but also left scope to add more unique features in the future,” Raina added.
The sunroof feature is now available across half of EcoSport variant lineup while the 2021 Ford EcoSport continues its safety and connectivity leadership with six airbags, touchscreen infotainment, FordPassTM, embedded navigation, among others, the carmaker said in the release. FordPass is a one-stop smartphone app. With a factory-fitted cloud-connected device, EcoSport owners can perform several vehicle operations — like starting, stopping, locking or unlocking remotely, using this app.
Besides, available in BSVI petrol and diesel engines, the new line-up continues to offer the power of choice to consumers with 1,00,000-km or 3-year warranty and lowest maintenance cost of 36 paise/km, it said. While the petrol variant starts at Rs 7.99 lakh and goes up to Rs 10.99 lakh, the diesel variant comes with a price of Rs 8.69 lakh-Rs 11.49 lakh, Ford India said.
Tesla delivered record number of cars in 2020
Washington: Tesla delivered a record number of cars in 2020, the company said, just narrowly missing its half a million target for the year. The pioneering high-end electric vehicle maker delivered 180,570 cars to customers and produced 179,757 in the fourth quarter of the year, it said in a statement Saturday. Tesla’s previous record was 139,300 vehicles delivered in the third quarter of 2020. For the full year, Tesla delivered 499,550 cars to customers, just shy of its target of half a million, and produced 509,737 units.
The firm said its delivery count was conservative and that final numbers could vary by up to half a percentage point or more. Tesla chief and co-founder Elon Musk hailed the figures as a “major milestone” for the firm. “At the start of Tesla, I thought we had (optimistically) a 10 per cent chance of surviving at all,” the mercurial tech entrepreneur tweeted. Tesla’s entry-level Model 3 and its crossover Model Y accounted for nearly 86 percent of deliveries, with the balance split between the luxury Model S sedan and the Model X SUV.
The company also said Saturday that production of its Model Y had begun at its Chinese plant in Shanghai, with deliveries expected to begin shortly. Tesla has long aimed to manufacture electric cars for the masses and in September Musk, the world’s second richest person, said developments in battery technology meant the firm was looking at fielding a $25,000 model in around three years’ time. The company joined the prestigious Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index on December 21. Though its car production is modest compared with rivals, Tesla’s growth prospects have spurred investors to push up its value so that it is now worth more than General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Fiat Chrysler and Volkswagen combined.