Fiat Chrysler Automotive head Sergio Marchionne had no luck convincing General Motors CEO Mary Barra to merge with his company earlier this year but could another big deal be on the horizon?
"I am absolutely certain that before 2018 there will be a merger," Sergio Marchionne said at Fiat's Melfi plant in Italy, according to Reuters.
Marchionne failed to say who could be involved in such a merger leaving us to wonder two things: does the CEO already have a deal in place with another company or is he just that confident in his consolidation beliefs?
Marchionne recently spent an entire conference call with Wall Street analysis explaining why automakers need to merge and how the market would only benefit from major companies teaming up, according to the Detroit Free Press.
One thing is for sure so far: GM and Ford currently want nothing to do with a merger with FCA.
Marchionne supposedly sent Barra an email back in March asking for a meeting to discuss a merger despite never formally meeting the fellow CEO in person.
Marchionne couldn't confirm the now infamous email he sent to Barra when asked about it this week.
"I write lots of emails, one does not talk about those things this way," he said, according to Reuters.
To no surprise, Barra turned down the invitation and was later quoted by Bloomberg saying that she feels GM is better off on its own, a sentiment shared by rival Detroit automaker Ford.
Last month, Ford said it had no intentions of merging with another big-time automaker, and instead would continue to focus on its "current business model."
Only time will tell what the FCA boss meant by his most recent comments.
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