[FCA] Sergio Marchionne - Riflessioni sulla necessita di aggregazioni nel settore

[pennellotref]

http://www.autonews.com/article/20151004/OEM/310059960/between-the-lines-gm-rebuts-marchionne

Between the lines, GM rebuts Marchionne

Not-so-subtle message to Wall St.: FCA not needed

"There is no question this industry is being disrupted," General Motors CEO Mary Barra said at the conference. "But we are a disrupter as well."

Mike Colias

Automotive News

October 4, 2015 - 12:01 am ET

DETROIT -- During General Motors' daylong investor conference last week, CEO Mary Barra devoted just three words to the nagging topic of Sergio Marchionne's merger fixation.

"No I haven't," Barra answered when asked whether she had heard from the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles chief lately.

But in a sense, her executive team's pitch to about 180 analysts and investors could be viewed as one long commercial for why GM doesn't need FCA.

GM execs tried hard to convince their influential audience not only that GM is thinking about the big-picture strategic topics on the industry's mind -- autonomous driving, alternative powertrains, mobility services that promise to transform the ownership model -- but that it's positioned to lead the transformation.

While "FCA" and "Sergio" didn't come up, the subtext seemed to be that a tie-up with FCA would be a bet on a 20th-century automotive model.

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[TD]Ammann: Not interested in "old business models"[/TD]

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GM President Dan Ammann framed it this way: "We must ... be spending our time and energy on redefining the future of mobility. If we're to win in this new world order, we cannot be distracted by a serial restructuring of old business models."

Barra & Co. detailed dozens of ways in which the company can grow in that new world order, from a ride-sharing service in New York City to an electric-bike concept. Sure, there were promises of cost cutting and bigger profit margins. But the annual conference took on a more urgent tone, amid the swift success of Uber and other emerging industry players, for example, and the threat of new ones, such as a rumored Apple car.

"There is no question this industry is being disrupted. But we are a disruptor as well," Barra said, adding later: "We are disrupting ourselves."

Her team asked analysts to consider strengths that it believes will help GM thrive in that shifting landscape:

• Connectivity: GM believes its 19-year history with OnStar is an advantage as cars become personal extensions of people's digital lives. For example, customers used the OnStar RemoteLink smartphone app 50 million times over the first half of the year, to start their vehicles remotely or unlock the doors, up from 23 million during all of 2013.

Ammann said OnStar gives GM a platform for one of the company's top priorities: "migrating our customer relationship to the mobile device over time." He said that would enable GM to offer other services -- car sharing, e-bike rental, whatever -- "that are beyond just the traditional owner-driver business model."

• Electric-vehicle technology: Global product chief Mark Reuss said GM's early start on electrification is paying dividends in the form of lower material costs on the Chevrolet Bolt EV, set for a late 2016 launch. Reuss said the battery cell cost will be an industry-low $145 per kilowatt-hour. He sees that falling to $100 by 2022, a figure that impressed analysts.

• Scale: To help pay for investments in new technologies, GM said it's redoubling efforts to wring costs from the business. It said it expects to generate about $5.5 billion in reduced manufacturing, purchasing and other costs by the end of 2018.

Part of those savings will come from lower per-vehicle costs from GM's continued transition to global platforms. For example, GM expects variable profit on the next-generation Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid to rise by $3,500, as the company spreads the cost of the guts of the system -- electric motors, battery cells, etc. -- across more models.

Highlighting the benefits of scale was a tacit rebuttal to Marchionne's criticism that the industry makes inefficient use of its capital, a problem he says can be solved only through consolidation. And GM went out of its way to address another of his gripes: that automakers don't collaborate enough to spread development costs.

Reuss cited a number of its strategic partnerships, from its work with Mobileye NV on sensor-based safety systems to its fuel cell joint venture with Honda, which GM said would produce a "commercially viable fuel cell vehicle" by around 2020.

"There will be many, many more," Reuss said of the ventures. "Together, we can move faster and do more than any of us could do alone."

In a note to investors, RBC Capital analyst Joseph Spak said he was struck by "a more open and honest conversation about the disruptive changes facing the industry and GM."

"Over time, GM needs to convince the market that they truly do have the assets, capabilities and speed," he wrote, "to 'disrupt themselves' and capitalize on the changing world."

P.S.:

While "FCA" and "Sergio" didn't come up, the subtext seemed to be that a tie-up with FCA would be a bet on a 20th-century automotive model. GM President Dan Ammann framed it this way: "We must ... be spending our time and energy on redefining the future of mobility. If we're to win in this new world order, we cannot be distracted by a serial restructuring of old business models."

Questa sarà da ricordare il giorno in cui Ammann "inspiegabilmente" si ritroverà all'improvviso senza sedia sotto il cu....(non che glielo auguri ovviamente eeehhhh)

Modificato 4 Ottobre 2015 da pennellotref

[Wilhem275]

Ma la Mary, nella foto, sta dicendo che Sergio è un po' troppo corto?

PS: la cosa è talmente "subtle" che ha occupato metà dell'articolo

[pennellotref]

Ma la Mary, nella foto, sta dicendo che Sergio è un po' troppo corto?

PS: la cosa è talmente "subtle" che ha occupato metà dell'articolo

[Guest EC2277]

Un altro passo verso la conquista del mondo

il mignolo è Yaki,anche se tiene le mani come Marchionne:mrgreen:.

Ciò spiega perché Marchionne è ingrugnito: Yaki gli sta facendo il verso per dimostrargli che anche lui è capace di dirigere l'azienda di famiglia.

[filip]

http://europe.autonews.com/article/20151005/ANE/150929800?template=mobile02

Contiene alcune puntuali segnalazioni su criticità che FCA deve affrontare

[Cosimo]

http://europe.autonews.com/article/20151005/ANE/150929800?template=mobile02

Contiene alcune puntuali segnalazioni su criticità che FCA deve affrontare

FCA’s troublesCompared with its larger and far richer global counterparts, FCA faces a set of problems that appears almost insurmountable. FCA trails its competitors in profit margin, r&d spending, fuel economy, hybrid technology, self-driving cars -- you name it. At a time of unprecedented capital investment needs in the auto industry, FCA is the only major carmaker in the world with more debt than cash (see table above).

So what’s the level of desperation? Marchionne insists FCA is not desperate at all. He says that the company can survive on its own – “in mediocrity.”

He acknowledges his company has extreme challenges compared with larger global rivals. Many of them, he says, are because of the financial weakness and years of neglect as Chrysler was coming out of its 2009 bankruptcy. But to outsiders, including analysts, competitors and potential partners, FCA has issues that go well beyond the weakness inherited by merging Chrysler into Fiat six years ago.

• Of the world’s 11 largest automakers, only FCA has a net debt -- $8 billion.

• Many of FCA’s top-selling vehicles ride on platforms that would be considered out of date at other automakers.

• No single FCA platform underpins more than 1 million vehicles a year, increasing costs.

• All FCA platforms are reworks of architectures Marchionne found when he joined Fiat in 2004 and took over bankrupt Chrysler in 2009. To meet crash standards, each new model had to be heavier than its predecessor. That means higher fuel consumption as competitors launch lighter models on new platforms. So over time, the weight disadvantage increases for FCA.

• Today, with the exception of a $1.4 million LaFerrari supercar already sold out, you can’t buy a hybrid from any of FCA’s 11 brands. You can, however, purchase a battery-electric Fiat 500e in California and parts of Oregon, but not in Europe. And if you do it, FCA will lose about $14,000 on the transaction, Marchionne has said.

• While companies such as Toyota, Ford and Hyundai-Kia sell the same products in China, the U.S. and Europe, FCA is still the sum of multiple marginally interconnected regions, with shrinking sales in economically stricken Brazil and a negligible presence in Asia-Pacific, at least for now.

• The group appears to have made no progress in connected car and autonomous driving, that many see as the future of automobiles

Marchionne acknowledges FCA’s challenges. Work to do on hybrids? “Absolutely true.” Lower margins compared with competitors in Europe and North America? “Absolutely true.” As for catching up when it comes to electrification? It’s coming, Marchionne said, and largely “from the supplier base.” Hybridization will be spread across the lineup, starting next year with the next-generation Chrysler Town & Country minivan.

eccole.

Mah, imho alcune decisamente valide, altre mi sembrano le classiche questioni industriali viste da analisti finanziari.

[Matteo B.]

Di fondo però è la giusta fotografia.

Il problema di FCA è che ha bisogno di una BARCA di soldi per R&D, ma di un fottìo proprio...

[Cosimo]

Di fondo però è la giusta fotografia.

Il problema di FCA è che ha bisogno di una BARCA di soldi per R&D, ma di un fottìo proprio...

ibrido sicuro, sulle piattaforme non son messi peggio di tanti altri. Sulla questione del milione di auto x piattaforma, parliamo di opinioni di ogni costruttore, non verità assolute. Pianali con numeri altissimi come mqb non sono stati ad esempio esenti da problematiche tecniche che ha fatto bruciar soldi.

Guida autonoma, sinceramente la vedo come una maledizione, spero non prenda piede.

Modificato 5 Ottobre 2015 da Cosimo

[Matteo B.]

ibrido sicuro, sulle piattaforme non son messi peggio di tanti altri.

Guida autonoma, sinceramente la vedo come una maledizione, spero non prenda piede.

elettrico, ibrido e guida autonoma...

i driver sono questi....non il diesel

[airdominance]

ibrido sicuro, sulle piattaforme non son messi peggio di tanti altri.

Guida autonoma, sinceramente la vedo come una maledizione, spero non prenda piede.

Ma non dovrebbero prendere l'ibrido direttamente dallo scaffale ZF e quindi non doversi assumere direttamente i costi per lo sviluppo della tecnologia?

Certo, rimarrebbe da finanziarne l'integrazione...