Ferrari sells Maserati
02-17-05, 10:35 PM
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Ferrari sells Maserati
ROME - Fiat SpA announced Wednesday it will buy the Maserati sportscar brand from Ferrari a company in which it already has a majority stake just three days after winning independence from General Motors Corp.
Turin-based Fiat said in a statement it was buying Maserati in a bid to find technological and commercial synergies to help develop its premium brand, Alfa Romeo. It declined to offer details about financial terms.
Fiat's unprofitable carmaking division, Fiat Auto, owns the Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia brands. The Fiat group also has a 56 percent stake in Ferrari.
"This operation is essential for the future development of Alfa Romeo," said Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne.
On Sunday, Fiat and General Motors dissolved a partnership including an option that could have forced GM to buy the 90 percent of Fiat Auto SpA that it did not already own. GM agreed to pay the Italian automaker $2 billion, mostly in exchange for canceling the clause.
Maserati was founded in 1914 and acquired by Fiat in 1993. Ferrari took ownership of the Maserati brand in 1999.
Maserati sold 4,600 cars last year, according to Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, who is chairman of Ferrari. The company has targeted unit sales of at least 10,000 a year for the brand. Alfa Romeo sells around 180,000 units a year.
Maserati sells around a third of its production in North America, where Alfa Romeo is not present, suggesting that under Wednesday's deal Fiat may be able to improve distribution range for higher-margin products
Turin-based Fiat said in a statement it was buying Maserati in a bid to find technological and commercial synergies to help develop its premium brand, Alfa Romeo. It declined to offer details about financial terms.
Fiat's unprofitable carmaking division, Fiat Auto, owns the Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia brands. The Fiat group also has a 56 percent stake in Ferrari.
"This operation is essential for the future development of Alfa Romeo," said Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne.
On Sunday, Fiat and General Motors dissolved a partnership including an option that could have forced GM to buy the 90 percent of Fiat Auto SpA that it did not already own. GM agreed to pay the Italian automaker $2 billion, mostly in exchange for canceling the clause.
Maserati was founded in 1914 and acquired by Fiat in 1993. Ferrari took ownership of the Maserati brand in 1999.
Maserati sold 4,600 cars last year, according to Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, who is chairman of Ferrari. The company has targeted unit sales of at least 10,000 a year for the brand. Alfa Romeo sells around 180,000 units a year.
Maserati sells around a third of its production in North America, where Alfa Romeo is not present, suggesting that under Wednesday's deal Fiat may be able to improve distribution range for higher-margin products
02-17-05, 11:30 PM
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This is exciting news. But Fiat has a lot of work ahead of them if they want to successfully market Alfa in the U.S.
They do have one thing going for them already: Alfa's styling is sexy.
Alfa 166
Alfa GT
Alfa 156
Alfa GTV
The interiors need some work .... (enter Maserati)
Alfa 156 interior:
M.
They do have one thing going for them already: Alfa's styling is sexy.
Alfa 166
Alfa GT
Alfa 156
Alfa GTV
The interiors need some work .... (enter Maserati)
Alfa 156 interior:
M.
Last edited by whipimpin; 02-17-05 at 11:37 PM.
02-19-05, 01:29 AM
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weird timing... but i just saw a black alfa romeo 156 driving by when i was coming home from work today.
really suprised that its here in nyc. thought its a dealership car or something, but i sorta went after it, and saw that it had diplomatic license plates, issued by the dept. of state.
cool car...all black with really dark tinted windows all around. probably some ambassador.
must be nice to work in goverment diplomatic service, gets to drive all the nice cars. know a friend whose family works for the diplomatic missions, and man, they get to use all kinds of cars.
tim
really suprised that its here in nyc. thought its a dealership car or something, but i sorta went after it, and saw that it had diplomatic license plates, issued by the dept. of state.
cool car...all black with really dark tinted windows all around. probably some ambassador.
must be nice to work in goverment diplomatic service, gets to drive all the nice cars. know a friend whose family works for the diplomatic missions, and man, they get to use all kinds of cars.
tim
02-19-05, 06:43 AM
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Fascinating corporate chess moves going on here... After GM paid two billion dollars for the privilege of NOT buying Fiat, I figured that Fiat was done. I guess they're putting that newfound cash to good use, although I must admit as a potential Maserati buyer for my next vehicle, I was more comfortable with Ferrari as their corporate parent.
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02-20-05, 11:20 AM
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Saturday, February 19, 2005
Fiat charts a bold new course -- but is it a wise one?
By Joji Sakurai / Associated Press
ROME -- First Fiat shook things up by taking Maserati off the hands of its subsidiary Ferrari, then it sacked the head of its ailing auto division -- all within days of winning independence from General Motors Corp.
The Italian automaker is moving with extraordinary speed and boldness to chart a new direction after severing ties with its "big brother" GM -- but analysts question whether the strategy is a sound one.
Fiat Auto has changed leadership four times in just over three years, giving experts reservations about Thursday's announcement that it was ousting Herbert Demel and replacing him with Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne. Demel was brought on just 15 months ago to bring the car development expertise honed during his years at Volkswagen to a brand that was losing market share in Europe and groping for an identity.
"Constant interruptions are really bad for ongoing business," said Patrick Juchemich, a senior auto analyst for the Sal. Oppenheim bank. "Demel ... was creating new structures. He hired a lot of good people, a lot of highly talented guys."
"Fifteen months is not enough to make a footprint," Juchemich said.
He sees the decision to have Marchionne directly take the reins of the auto division as a clash of business philosophies.
Marchionne, he said, is a capital market-driven lawyer seeking quick returns. Those skills were displayed with Sunday's announcement that he had wrung 1.55 billion euros ($2 billion) from GM in a battle of nerves involving Fiat threats to exercise a contractual clause that would have forced the U.S. automaker to buy the 90 percent of Fiat it didn't already own.
Demel, on the other hand, was betting that as Fiat becomes ever more marginalized in Europe -- and even loses market share in Italy to France's Citroen and South Korean automakers -- the key to revival was the nitty-gritty of product development.
"Marchionne is looking for a short-term result, the other was fixed on a long-term scenario based on a technical basis," Juchemich said.
Investor reaction to Demel's ouster was muted Friday as Fiat shares edged up 0.3 percent to 5.97 euros ($7.78) in midday trading on Milan's stock exchange.
Marchionne, who has criticized Fiat's "bureaucratic" culture, said after announcing Demel's departure that "a profound cultural transformation is under way following a management reorganization that has delivered a more agile and efficient structure." Marchionne reiterated in the statement that "group break-even for 2004 is achievable."
Fiat SpA is a diversified industrial group, but its fortunes remain tied largely to its iconic auto brand. The group's aim of returning to profitability by 2006 will depend largely on efforts at its auto division, which accounts for 40 percent of the group's revenues. Fiat Auto is 8 billion euros ($10.4 billion) in debt, and it continues to lose money as it waits for new models to bear fruit financially.
This year Fiat is pinning its hopes on new versions of the Punto, Panda and Croma and two new models under its premium Alfa Romeo brand, the Brera and the 159. The revamped version of Fiat's best-selling Punto model, expected in autumn 2005, will be particularly key to its fortunes.
The financial world has observed the changes at Fiat with a mixture of hope that they eventually will lead to a leaner company, as Marchionne promises, and dismay that the transformation looks increasingly like a form of permanent revolution.
"At some point, 'Cultural Transformation' needs management stability; something Fiat Auto needs more than ever," investment firm Morgan Stanley said Friday in an analysis it named 'The World's Toughest Job?'
The past year at Fiat has been one of tumult. Following the death in May of its president, Umberto Agnelli, the company appointed new management, and in November it announced it was revamping its executive structure in a bid to make it leaner and more efficient.
On Wednesday, Fiat announced it will buy the Maserati sportscar brand from Ferrari -- a company in which it already has a majority stake. The Turin-based company said the move would create technological and commercial synergies that would help it develop the Alfa Romeo brand.
But Juchemich expressed skepticism that teaming up Maserati and Alfa Romeo would offer any technological advantages, especially because Maserati depended on Ferrari for its engines.
"It don't really see the logic," he said, adding that the only real plus would be that Maserati's toehold in the U.S. market may provide a conduit there for Alfa Romeo.
source : detnews
Fiat charts a bold new course -- but is it a wise one?
By Joji Sakurai / Associated Press
ROME -- First Fiat shook things up by taking Maserati off the hands of its subsidiary Ferrari, then it sacked the head of its ailing auto division -- all within days of winning independence from General Motors Corp.
The Italian automaker is moving with extraordinary speed and boldness to chart a new direction after severing ties with its "big brother" GM -- but analysts question whether the strategy is a sound one.
Fiat Auto has changed leadership four times in just over three years, giving experts reservations about Thursday's announcement that it was ousting Herbert Demel and replacing him with Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne. Demel was brought on just 15 months ago to bring the car development expertise honed during his years at Volkswagen to a brand that was losing market share in Europe and groping for an identity.
"Constant interruptions are really bad for ongoing business," said Patrick Juchemich, a senior auto analyst for the Sal. Oppenheim bank. "Demel ... was creating new structures. He hired a lot of good people, a lot of highly talented guys."
"Fifteen months is not enough to make a footprint," Juchemich said.
He sees the decision to have Marchionne directly take the reins of the auto division as a clash of business philosophies.
Marchionne, he said, is a capital market-driven lawyer seeking quick returns. Those skills were displayed with Sunday's announcement that he had wrung 1.55 billion euros ($2 billion) from GM in a battle of nerves involving Fiat threats to exercise a contractual clause that would have forced the U.S. automaker to buy the 90 percent of Fiat it didn't already own.
Demel, on the other hand, was betting that as Fiat becomes ever more marginalized in Europe -- and even loses market share in Italy to France's Citroen and South Korean automakers -- the key to revival was the nitty-gritty of product development.
"Marchionne is looking for a short-term result, the other was fixed on a long-term scenario based on a technical basis," Juchemich said.
Investor reaction to Demel's ouster was muted Friday as Fiat shares edged up 0.3 percent to 5.97 euros ($7.78) in midday trading on Milan's stock exchange.
Marchionne, who has criticized Fiat's "bureaucratic" culture, said after announcing Demel's departure that "a profound cultural transformation is under way following a management reorganization that has delivered a more agile and efficient structure." Marchionne reiterated in the statement that "group break-even for 2004 is achievable."
Fiat SpA is a diversified industrial group, but its fortunes remain tied largely to its iconic auto brand. The group's aim of returning to profitability by 2006 will depend largely on efforts at its auto division, which accounts for 40 percent of the group's revenues. Fiat Auto is 8 billion euros ($10.4 billion) in debt, and it continues to lose money as it waits for new models to bear fruit financially.
This year Fiat is pinning its hopes on new versions of the Punto, Panda and Croma and two new models under its premium Alfa Romeo brand, the Brera and the 159. The revamped version of Fiat's best-selling Punto model, expected in autumn 2005, will be particularly key to its fortunes.
The financial world has observed the changes at Fiat with a mixture of hope that they eventually will lead to a leaner company, as Marchionne promises, and dismay that the transformation looks increasingly like a form of permanent revolution.
"At some point, 'Cultural Transformation' needs management stability; something Fiat Auto needs more than ever," investment firm Morgan Stanley said Friday in an analysis it named 'The World's Toughest Job?'
The past year at Fiat has been one of tumult. Following the death in May of its president, Umberto Agnelli, the company appointed new management, and in November it announced it was revamping its executive structure in a bid to make it leaner and more efficient.
On Wednesday, Fiat announced it will buy the Maserati sportscar brand from Ferrari -- a company in which it already has a majority stake. The Turin-based company said the move would create technological and commercial synergies that would help it develop the Alfa Romeo brand.
But Juchemich expressed skepticism that teaming up Maserati and Alfa Romeo would offer any technological advantages, especially because Maserati depended on Ferrari for its engines.
"It don't really see the logic," he said, adding that the only real plus would be that Maserati's toehold in the U.S. market may provide a conduit there for Alfa Romeo.
source : detnews
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