WHat will be the next big automotive merger??

[RDMcG]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/news/in...

Fiat-Chrysler was apparently rebuffed by GM in recent days, but Marchione is predicting a merger to come. For the life of me I can't really see who is out there….

Citroen?

Maybe a Korean-Euro tie up?

The point is to have the size to spread the R&D costs and development effort over many more platforms, which of course mean a certain sameness on the products, unfortunately.

Any bets?

[PositronicRay]

You're almost there. PSA (Citroen's parent) are ripe for takeover.

[Crafty_]

There isn't much scope left is there ?

VAG cover Skoda, SEAT, VW, Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini and part ownership of Porsche
Fiat cover Ferrari, Alfa Romeo Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and their own brand
GM have GMC, Chevy, Cadillac, Buick, Opel & Vauxhall, Holden
Renault & Nissan have some sort of tie up don't they? Dacia fit in to that somewhere too
Peugeot & Citroen are part of the same group
Ford still run Lincoln
Kia are owned by Hyundai

That leaves the Japanese marques. Mazda have a tie up with Ford, Isuzu links to GM (historically at least). What about Suzuki, Mitsubushi, Subaru ? the last two are industrial companies who happen to have car divisions - potential for technical tie ups ?

I wonder if we'll see some brands disappear. GM killed off Saturn, Geo, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Daewoo, Hummer in recent years. Mercury, Plymouth disappeared too.

Edited by Crafty_ on Friday 29th May 22:05

[goneape]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if China and India get involved somewhere. They will surely want a slice of the established market and I guess it's a tough place for new entrants.

[Krikkit]

PositronicRay said:

You're almost there. PSA (Citroen's parent) are ripe for takeover.

Agreed - they have all the history that a Chinese manufacturer would be looking for to peddle in their own markets, and are utterly skint at the moment.

[boz1]

PositronicRay said:

You're almost there. PSA (Citroen's parent) are ripe for takeover.

I suspect the French govt would block that.

Its an interesting question though. Traditionally you'd be looking for companies whose portfolios don't overlap too much (by segment or geography) and have other complementarities, such as one having a strong brand or innovative technologies and perhaps the other being in a stronger financial position.

There have been quite a number of mergers over the last 20,years though, so it's not obvious what would be next. I guess Mazda is one player which is potentially subspace, not sure who would buy them though.

There would also potentially be competition concerns in some jurisdictions, so I think outright mergers are unlikely. Instead you are more likely to see further strategic tie-ups to develop particular products such as a new platform or engine. So maybe you'll see modular BMW engines powering other brands cars or something.

[Abbott]

Volvo has a Chinese owner
JLR has an Indian owner

Nissan and Renault have a share cross ownership Alliance

PSA have struggled for a long time and China have a significant share ownership

FCA are going to struggle so Marchione is desperately looking for a partner.

All of the major players are doing all sorts of sharing of engines transmissions and even badge engineered vehicles.

With the recent lessons learned I am not sure there is the hunger for any of the big players to merger.

[saaby93]

Mercedes?

[Abbott]

saaby93 said:

Mercedes?

Mercedes owner Daimler have been there done that, with Chrysler, and got badly burnt

[Abbott]

boz1 said:

PositronicRay said:

You're almost there. PSA (Citroen's parent) are ripe for takeover.

I suspect the French govt would block that. .

Dongfeng of China own 14% of PSA making them one of the biggest shareholders

[jamoor]

I wonder if electric cars will influence things.

[DUMBO100]

I'm surprised that one of the premium manufacturers hasn't tried to buy Tesla yet

[RDMcG]

DUMBO100 said:

I'm surprised that one of the premium manufacturers hasn't tried to buy Tesla yet

I think Tesla is closely held, though it might be Apple or Google who would be in the running too for it.

[jamoor]

RDMcG said:

I think Tesla is closely held, though it might be Apple or Google who would be in the running too for it.

True, to me Tesla appears to be a company that is as much into software as it is into cars.

All of the major manufacturers know nothing about the latter which is why their in car systems suck.

[RDMcG]

jamoor said:

True, to me Tesla appears to be a company that is as much into software as it is into cars.

All of the major manufacturers know nothing about the latter which is why their in car systems suck.

Pretty much every manufacturer except Toyota has signed up for Apple's in car interface, and the Google stuff is on the way. I do not think any of the manufacturers will seriously play in that space.

[jamoor]

RDMcG said:

Pretty much every manufacturer except Toyota has signed up for Apple's in car interface, and the Google stuff is on the way. I do not think any of the manufacturers will seriously play in that space.

Well the software is fundamental to the entire car, not just the ICE, that's what makes Tesla different to every other manufacturer.

[northwest monkey]

RDMcG said:

DUMBO100 said:

I'm surprised that one of the premium manufacturers hasn't tried to buy Tesla yet

I think Tesla is closely held, though it might be Apple or Google who would be in the running too for it.

Would it not depend on whether Tesla want to make the jump to being a bigger player in the car market?

IMHO they would need to partner with someone to make that step.

[Studio117]

Crafty_ said:

That leaves the Japanese marques. Mazda have a tie up with Ford, Isuzu links to GM (historically at least). What about Suzuki, Mitsubushi, Subaru ? the last two are industrial companies who happen to have car divisions - potential for technical tie ups ?

Edited by Crafty_ on Friday 29th May 22:05

Agreed.
Toyota is simply to large. They have massive market share outside the EU.
Mitsubishi is part of a large conglomerate(mitsubishi group) involved in loads of different things so can't see them selling their (relatively) small car business off.
That leaves Honda. Again with their core business outside the eu, they seem profitable.

One question i have.

How much does the Japanese government subsidise the car manufactures like the Germans do with the likes of VW etc?

[Jader1973]

GM and PSA are developing a few shared platforms.

Tesla is an interesting one. They are burning through cash at a massive rate (because you have to if you want to develop a car) and I suspect that at somepoint they are going to need a partner. Whether it will be a tech company or an auto company will be interesting to see - I suspect tech because they don't really have anything the auto companies need.

[Mroad]

As of the end of March:



...although not quite right as Spyker don't own SAAB anymore, it's NEVS.

Edited by Mroad on Saturday 30th May 11:08