Nikola Paying $125M to Settle with SEC

Nikola Corp. agreed to pay $125 million to settle civil charges levied against the company by the Securities and Exchange Commission claiming it defrauded investors by making false claims about its vehicles. 

Nikola CEO Trevor Milton t-shirt
Nikola’s settlement with the SEC still holds the company accountable for statements made by founder Trevor Milton.

The deal is separate from the civil and criminal charges against Trevor Milton, the company’s founder and now-former Chairman. In fact, the company’s agreed to cooperate with any current investigation and litigation, however, it didn’t admit or deny the SEC’s findings in the settlement.

The agency contends the company misled investors about the capabilities of its hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles, suggesting they were further along in development than they were. The focal point being a video of its Nikola One appearing to be driving under its own power, when it was actually rolling down a slight decline.

The video became the centerpiece of a report by short-selling research firm Hindenburg Research claiming Nikola was based on “intricate fraud built on dozen of lies” perpetrated by Milton. That quickly triggered an SEC probe and led to the decision by Milton to resign on Sept. 21.

Nikola agreed to pay the $125 million in five installments over two years. The first payment comes by the end of this year, with the remainder being paid in semi-annual installments in 2022 and 2023. The company previously disclosed Nov. 4, 2021 it took a $125 million reserve in its third quarter earnings to account for the expected settlement. 

Nikola Motor Chairman Trevor Milton

Nikola Motor’s former Chairman Trevor Milton is facing civil and criminal charges in court.

Milton not off the hook

Nikola “is responsible both for Milton’s allegedly misleading statements and for other alleged deceptions, all of which falsely portrayed the true state of the company’s business and technology,” said Gurbir Grewal, the SEC’s enforcement director, in a statement.

Milton saw civil and criminal charges filed against in July, claiming he used social media to repeatedly mislead investors about the company’s technology, netting “tens of millions of dollars” in the process. Milton’s repeatedly denied wrongdoing and is in the midst of a court battle.

Audrey Strauss, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said during a press conference in late July, Milton deliberately set out to deceive what she described as “retail investors” by making claims he knew were false about Nikola products.

While Nikola’s settled up with the SEC, it’s now focused on its former leader.

Nikola Tre Class 8 semi

The company’s attempting to move on from the problems. In fact, it delivered its first battery-electric Tre Class 8 rigs last week.

“The company has taken action to seek reimbursement from its founder, Trevor Milton, for costs and damages in connection with the government and regulatory investigations,” the company said in a release.

Moving forward

“We are pleased to bring this chapter to a close as the company has now resolved all government investigations,” the company said in a statement. 

“We will continue to execute on our strategy and vision to deliver on our business plan, including delivering trucks to customers, expanding our manufacturing facilities and our sales and service network, and building out our hydrogen infrastructure ecosystem including hydrogen production, distribution and dispensing stations.”

This is already happening as it delivered the first Nikola Tre battery-electric pilot trucks to Total Transportation Services Inc. (TTSI), a Southern California’s port trucking company, to expedite zero-emission transportation solutions at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The company is engaged in a four-truck pilot program with the trucking company, involving two battery electric trucks with a range of 350 miles and two fuel cell-electric trucks with a range of 500 miles. If the vehicle trials go well and TTSI obtains government funding, the company will provide 30 BEVs in 2022, and 70 FCEVs are anticipated to start in 2023.

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New IIHS Study Confirms Brighter Headlights Reduce Number of Nighttime Crashes

To the surprise of no one, a new study completed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety confirmed brighter headlights help reduce vehicle collisions.

Audi R8
In 2016, Audi’s new laser headlamps were brighter than conventional lights so the maker adjusted the lights to shine low and wide.

The organization noted the number of nighttime vehicle accidents are nearly 20% lower for vehicles with headlights earning a “good” rating in IIHS evaluation, compared with those with “poor” rated headlights. Vehicles IIHS rates as having “acceptable” or “marginal” headlights crash rates are 10% to 15% lower than for those with poor ratings.

“Driving at night is three times as risky as driving during the day,” said IIHS Senior Research Engineer Matthew Brumbelow, who conducted the study. “This is the first study to document how much headlights that provide better illumination can help.”

An evolving light 

Until recently, there was little need to evaluate headlights, as all cars used sealed beam headlights, a technology that became an industry standard by the 1940s. Like the lights in your home, sealed-beam and halogen headlights are incandescent. They use electricity to heat a bulb’s filament, which in turn produces light.

The addition of halogen gas in the 1960s allowed the headlight’s tungsten filament to generate a brighter light that lasted longer. In 1983, the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard was revised, allowing for all composite headlight assemblies to have replacement bulbs. Yet overall, headlights had changed little since electric headlights first appeared on cars in 1898.

IIHS headlight crash reduction chart

That changed with the introduction of high-intensity discharge headlights, or HIDs. These are arc lamps, much like a neon sign, which produce light by the sparking an electrical arc between two conducting electrodes inside the bulb. Far more efficient than halogen lamps, they not only produce more light, but also use less energy and last far longer. 

Then, in 2004, the first LED headlights appear on the Audi A8. An LED a semiconductor that emits light when a current is passed through it, using far less energy than other types of bulbs. This led to the creation of LED Matrix headlights, which uses LEDs, sensors and cameras to light the road depending on road conditions. Now, automakers are starting to employ laser lighting, affording 1.25 miles of visibility.

Testing counteracts an outdated federal standard

Given evolving lighting technology, IIHS began evaluating headlight effectiveness in 2016 to counteract the federal government’s outdate lighting standard, one that considered all headlight types equal. The problem is, they’re not. Five years later, IIHS has rated approximately 1,000 different headlights, bestowing them with the same good, acceptable, marginal and poor ratings used for the crash test evaluations.

The IIHS’s new study shows that good-rated reduces driver injuries in crashes by 29% and the rates of tow-away crashes and pedestrian crashes by about 25%.

“Better scores in our headlight tests translate into safer nighttime driving on the road,” said IIHS’s Brumbelow. 

Despite the changes in headlight technology, the Federal standard for automotive lighting hasn’t changed significantly since 1968. What’s worse, the standard specifies minimum and maximum brightness for headlights without taking into account how well it is installed. The standard also lacks any regulations for newer technology, such as curve-adaptive headlights. 

To address such failings, the IIHS’s evaluation of vehicle lighting are done while driven on a test track. Performance varies considerably; current low beam headlights illuminate anywhere from 125 feet to 460 feet. That’s a difference of as much as 6 seconds when driving at 50 mph. The tests have compelled OEMs to improve the quality of their lighting, IIHS says. 

“Our awards have been a huge motivator for automakers to improve their headlights,” Brumbelow says. “Now, with our new study, we have confirmation that these improvements are saving lives.”

UK Fuel Shortage Sent Buyers Scurrying for EVs, Tesla Topping British Sales Charts

While most British service stations now have all the petrol — gasoline — they need again, the country’s fuel crisis could have long-term impacts, the scare convincing many UK motorists it is time to switch to battery-electric vehicles.

UK-fuel-pump-out-of-use
The petrol shortage in the UK last month drove the Tesla Model 3 to the top sales spot overall in the UK for September.

For the first time ever, a BEV was the best-selling vehicle in Britain last month, and motorists registered nearly as many all-electric vehicles in September as they did in all of 2019, according to industry data. The Tesla Model 3 was the big winner, but other BEVs also gained momentum.

“The petrol crisis was temporary but the impact on consumer attitudes is not,” said Ian Plummer, commercial director for the British arm of Auto Trader. “The idea that you’ll always be able to fill your tank has gone out the window.”

Pumps run dry

At one point, as many as 90% of the pumps serving petrol ran dry last month. Long lines of motorists waiting at stations across the country proved reminiscent of the twin oil shocks that struck the U.S. back in the 1970s.

But this crisis wasn’t due to shortages of petroleum, but rather the inability to get refined fuel to service stations, experts noted. That was due to an ongoing lack of carrier truck drivers that has grown worse since Britain exited the European Union and enacted new restrictions on workers from the continent. (The U.S. currently faces a similar shortage of drivers resulting in spot shortage of fuel this year.)

As pumps — and fuel tanks — ran dry, British motorists began looking for alternatives. At one point, Google recorded a 1,600% increase in online searches related to electric vehicles, and automotive shopping website Carwow saw its own traffic nearly double.

UK fuel shortage line

The inability to just run out and get petrol/gas anytime Britons desired impacted their buying habits.

Now, British auto industry data indicate this translated into actual sales.

UK’s EV sales explode

Demand for electrified vehicles was already rising before the fuel crisis. But sales of all plug-based models surged at a record pace in September. Pure battery-electric vehicles recorded the biggest gain, automakers reporting a 49.4% increase in BEV registrations for the month. That jump came despite the fact that overall passenger car sales in the UK actually dipped by 34.4% in September.

Of the 215,312 vehicles registered in Britain, BEVs totaled 32,721, or 15.2 percent. That was 5,000 short of the number of all-electric models sold in the UK during all of 2019.

Plug-in hybrids generated 13,884 sales, or 11.5%, and conventional hybrids accounted for 12% of September registrations, or 24,961. In other words, vehicles using some form of electric propulsion made up nearly four in 10 of the vehicles British drivers registered.

The Tesla Model 3 was the big winner, becoming the best-selling new vehicle in the country, British motorists purchasing 6,879.

Nissan Leaf in London

Electric vehicle sales are expected to continue to rise in the UK in the wake of the current shortage.

The all-electric sedan was the only exclusive BEV model among Britain’s top 10 in September, but five others on that list are available with various battery-based propulsion systems. The Vauxhall Corsa was second on the September list, the BMW 3 Series the third, Toyota Yaris came in fourth, while the Kia Niro was ninth. Rounding out the top 10 was the Volkswagen Golf.

Not an anomaly

While sales of electrified vehicles have surged, demand for diesels has plummeted in the UK, registrations falling 55% last year and continuing to spiral downward in 2021.

While some analysts have questioned whether last month’s sales numbers were an anomaly, Brent Gruber, senior director of Global Automotive at J.D. Power, told TheDetroitBureau.com the shift is only likely to continue, if not accelerate.

The fuel shortages proved part of a “microcosm of all the different factors that are aligning to help drive EV adoption,” according to Gruber.

British consumers, like those in the U.S. and other markets, Gruber added, are getting a steadily widening range of BEVs to choose from, vehicles targeting a broader array of price and product segments, while offering improved range and more appealing features.

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SEC Investigating VW Due to the “Voltswagen” Stunt

Voltswagen

The “Voltswagen” April Fool’s Day prank has led to an investigation by the SEC.

What started out as a “humorous” advertising and marketing ploy could land German automaker Volkswagen in serious trouble with the federal government.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is apparently looking into VW’s “Voltswagen” marketing stunt to determine if it hurt company stock prices and may have broken any U.S. securities laws, according to German news outlet Der Spiegel.

The incident in question dates back to March 29. As a sort of early April Fool’s Day prank (and marketing ploy), VW “accidentally” released a rough draft of a press release declaring the company was going to change its name to “Voltswagen” as part of a larger effort to promote its ever-growing line-up of electric vehicles (EVs).

This action was picked up by the worldwide automotive press and on March 30 VW issued an official press release to several news outlets, including the Associated Press, confirming the leaked statement from the day before.

This action resulted in VW’s stock price going up. At one point it was 12.5% above its price before the whole incident.

SEC looking at jump in stock price

VW of America President Scott Keogh took responsibility for the poorly received April Fools’ prank that wasn’t on April 1.

This is what caught the attention of the SEC, taking what many considered a fairly unfunny publicity ruse to a possible federal offense.

After the April Fool’s stunt failed in the eyes of the media and the public, VW issued a press statement saying the releases were actually part of a larger tradition in which companies often issue prank statements.

This one just meant to also focus the world’s attention on VW’s growing EV portfolio.

But public statements that affect stock prices usually don’t get an “April Fools” immunity. An SEC investigation could result in charges against the company.

Several news organizations, including The New York Times and Reuters, have asked for a comment from VW. So far, the company has declined to issue one.

Just one of many VW legal scandals

This is not the first time VW has gotten into trouble for the way it conducts its business.

Oh those wacky Germans!! As quickly as it got here, VW took it away: Voltswagen is the company that never was.

In October 2015, as Volkswagen struggled to deal with its diesel emissions scandal, new data raised questions about whether the automaker properly reported death and injury claims to U.S. regulators during the past decade.

A study by the financial advisory firm Stout Risius Ross Inc., found that Volkswagen of America reported nine times fewer deaths and injuries than the average of the 11 largest automakers operating in the U.S. market. Significantly, VW reported less than half as many incidents as either Fiat Chrysler or Honda, both of which have been fined for underreporting their own death and injury data.

Back in September 2015, the EPA accused the German maker of using a so-called “defeat devices,” software designed to fool government emissions tests, on a variety of luxury models from the Audi and Porsche brands. The feds charged VW took steps to cover up excess emissions on 482,000 vehicles sold in the U.S. during a 7-year period.

The end result was VW paying billions of dollars in fines to various governments around the world. The company also faced numerous consumer lawsuits that further cost the company money.


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Carmakers Withdraw from Trump Lawsuit Against California

Several automakers withdrew from the lawsuit by the Trump administration to revoke California’s ability to make its own emissions and fuel economy rules.

The ink was not even dry on Pete Buttigieg’s confirmation as Secretary of Transportation by the U.S. Senate when several automakers announced they were “withdrawing” from the lawsuit filed by the Trump administration to roll back the State of California’s right to set its own emission and fuel economy standards.

Toyota, Fiat Chrysler and Subaru joined General Motors, which pulled its support for the suit last November, in dumping the effort. Previously sided with Trump administration’s effort, encapsulated in federal lawsuit filed in the fall of 2019 to shut down California’s role in setting the nation’s automotive policy.

The automakers insisted they were not trying to punish California for its aggressive stance on climate change but to campaign for “one national standard” that could be applied across the United States.

However, the world has changed dramatically since the previous administration initially filed suit with the support of GM, FCA and Toyota as well as Hyundai, Kia, Mazda and the National Auto Dealers Association.

(GM throws support behind California in emissions court battle with Trump.)

GM pulled its support for the lawsuit against California in late November.

For one thing, after a boisterous campaign that led to record voter turnout, Trump is no longer president and California has expanded its fight against climate change by moving aggressively to foreclose the sale of new vehicles with internal combustion engines throughout the state by 2035.

California Governor Gavin Newsome tweeted his support for the move, offering his thanks for “dropping your climate-denying, air-polluting, Trump-era lawsuit against CA.”

He added, “Good start. Now it’s time to join forward-looking carmakers in the CA framework to protect our air and planet.” Other automakers, including Ford, BMW, Honda and more forged a new deal with the state on mandates that were tougher than the Trump standard, but less stringent than the Obama administration’s benchmarks.

Edmunds, the internet-based car buying service, is predicting sales of electric vehicles will set a record in 2021 and as of last week, General Motors is saying it plans to exit the business of selling cars with combustion engines by 2035 and become carbon neutral by 2040.

The Coalition for Sustainable Automotive Regulation, which also sided with the Trump administration in its battle against California, reiterated its support for having just one nationwide emissions standard, but said it was leaving the litigation “in a gesture of good faith,” towards the Biden administration.

Toyota was joined by several automakers in the move to pull out of the legal battle with California.

In his first full day of office on Jan. 21, the Biden administration had asked to “pause” the litigation around the California standards.

“In a gesture of good faith and to find a constructive path forward, the CSAR has decided to withdraw from this lawsuit in order to unify the auto industry behind a single national program, with ambitious, achievable standards,” the CSAR said in a statement.

CSAR’s move follows the lead of General Motors, which was also initially on the side of the Trump administration but exited in November following Biden’s election victory, according to The Hill, an online publication that follows development on Capitol Hill.

(California moves to block Trump fuel efficiency standard.)

The list of CSAR members include Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi and Subaru, according to the organization’s website.

And it comes following the Biden administration’s decision ask the court to pause the litigation, after it identified the former Trump administration’s rule as one it would seek to review and potentially reverse course on.

“Abeyance will further the Court’s interests in avoiding unnecessary adjudication, support the integrity of the administrative process, and ensure due respect for the prerogative of the executive branch to reconsider the policy decisions of a prior Administration,” the administration said in court.

It is also seeking to hit pause on other rules including the prior administration’s methane regulations.

Meanwhile, Buttigieg, the former mayor South Bend, Indiana, who has been tapped by Biden to serve as Secretary of Transportation, and to help lead the new administration’s fight to curb climate change, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

The automakers’ decision to withdraw from the lawsuit makes it easier for Buttigieg to discuss a new round of initiatives for the industry and bring California’s interests into the discussion. Relations between Washington and California had been strained during the Trump era.

California, however, has a well-established role in setting automotive policy on issues relating to air quality since the late 1940s and early 1950s when the collision between Southern California’s unique environment, vibrant automotive culture and explosive economic growth had led to the creation of a smog layer that threatened the health of young children and older residents.

The choking smog led to a series of laws, regulations and subsequently court decision that gave the state of California’s statement government, which is now in the hands of Democrats beholden to environmental groups rather than the oil industry, the right to control air quality.

(Trump confirms mileage standards cut, elimination of California clean air waiver.)

In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court in Massachusetts vs EPA, gave states the authority to curb emissions of greenhouse gasses, which contribute to climate change.


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Stellantis Plans No Job or Brand Cuts, Expects to Have 39 “Electrified” Vehicles by End-2021

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares and Chairman John Elkann are all smiles during the official debut of the new company.

Despite aims of achieving about $6 billion in synergies through the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and France’s Group PSA, there are no plans to drop brands or eliminate jobs, Carlos Tavares, the CEO of newly formed Stellantis, declared Tuesday.

If anything, the company expects to see opportunities to enhance the performance of its 14 brands and gain traction in markets and market segments where it is weak, Tavares said during a nearly two-hour media briefing. But the Portugese-born executive did warn that “headwinds” could force Stellantis to pull back in some places, notably Latin America, if it can’t maintain a profitable business strategy.

“Our commitment on this merger is that we will not shut down plants as a consequence of the merger,’’ Tavares said, later adding that there are no plans to eliminate any brands, either, though a formal strategy for rebuilding some of the weaker marques, such as U.S.-based Chrysler and Italy’s Fiat and Alfa Romeo, is still in the works.

(Stellantis enjoys warm welcome from European investors.)

The merger was formally announced in December 2019 but took more than a year to pull together as FCA and PSA not only negotiated terms but also had to deal with unions and regulators around the world. The final details fell in place last month and shareholders from the two companies each voted in favor of completing the deal by margins of more than 99%.

Workers take the covers off the new Stellantis sign at North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

The merger created what is now the world’s fourth-largest automotive manufacturer, behind Toyota, Volkswagen and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. And its size, diverse brand, product and market portfolios will serve as “a shield” said Tavares. That “helps keep affordability, helps keep the customer base and helps prevent bad things from happening.”

Tuesday’s lengthy media session was aimed at providing a sense of the direction Tavares sees for Stellantis while also addressing some of the many questions that have popped up during the last 13 months.

There has been widespread speculation that brands such as Fiat and Chrysler could be eliminated considering the challenges of maintaining a portfolio of 14 separate marques. But Tavares insisted Stellantis is up to the job, pointing to how it has handled its acquisition of Opel/Vauxhall from General Motors. Prior to that deal, the German-based unit had run up nearly two decades of losses. But it was profitable within a year of the purchase, Tavares noted.

One of the keys to the merger will be taking advantage of scale, the CEO said. That will allow more efficiency in product development and purchasing – which should yield 80% of the 5 billion euros in “synergies” Tavares has promised.

For one thing, weaker brands will benefit by being able to share product platforms and components developed for the broader enterprise – though Tavares stressed that it will be essential to make sure buyers can clearly differentiate between what he described as “sister cars,” say, Dodge, Fiat and Peugeot models that share the same underpinnings.

A mix of new and old with the new Stellantis sign in the foreground and the Chrysler Pentastar in the background.

“The importance is scale and the opportunity to purchase more effectively,” said Stephanie Brinley, principal analyst with IHS Markit, adding that Stellantis “also will benefit from having more cash that can be used to develop systems for more vehicles than (FCA and PSA) each could have done alone.”

(Chrysler is no more as Stellantis comes to life.)

That should prove particularly important when it comes to developing the electrified and autonomous vehicles that are expected to radically transform the globally transportation industry over the coming decade. While it’s unclear how soon self-driving technology will be ready for market, EVs are expected to gain significant traction over the next several years, Tavares expecting that they “will represent more than one-third of vehicle sales, possibly more in Europe,” by the end of the decade.

“Our company will have to be carbon neutral,” Tavares said, adding that he expects the new Biden administration will push for further reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. “This is going to be at the core of our long-term strategic plan.”

At the time of the merger – officially completed last weekend – Stellantis had 29 electrified vehicles, ranging from hybrids to plug-ins to pure battery-electric vehicles. Just by the end of 2021, Tavares revealed, that will grow to 39 models. And, by 2025, he said, “There will be electrified versions of all new models.”

What Tavares and Mike Manley, then CEO of FCA, started is now complete.

How many of those will be BEVs, however, he did not reveal, raising his concerns about the higher cost of producing all-electric vehicles and how that could price some traditional buyers out of the new vehicle market.

The reality is that many key strategic decisions have yet to be formalized, Tavares indicated during the Tuesday briefing. That includes how to prop up weaker brands and improve the presence of Stellantis in weaker markets. That notably includes China, where neither FCA nor PSA were strong players. Latin America is another challenging region — as was underscored by Ford’s announcement last week that it will end manufacturing operations in Brazil.

While analyst Brinley said she believes Stellantis can largely hold to its early goals, especially finding ways to maintain its current brand portfolio, she said the company ultimately might wind up cutting some jobs. But she doesn’t think factory workers are the ones who should be concerned.

(Fiat Chrysler and PSA not exactly a “merger of equals.”)

“There will be some areas where there will be job redundancies,” though not in plants, said Brinley. More likely this could occur in places like marketing and purchasing, and even some in engineering, “operational areas where they just won’t need as many employees” as they did when FCA and PSA operated independently.


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Chrysler is No More as Stellantis Comes to Life

Is this the last logo that will use the Chrysler name?

Chrysler is dead.

Perhaps a bit dramatic, but nevertheless, the merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. and Peugeot S.A. became effective today, resulting in Stellantis N.V. Shares of the newly formed Stellantis begin trading on exchanges in France, Italy and the U.S. starting Monday. All will use the ticker symbol STLA.

The deal has been going through extensive regulatory approvals, twin shareholder votes and the necessary dottings of i’s and crossings of t’s for more than a year.

As of today, that means that for the first time since June 6, 1925, when it was founded by Walter P. Chrysler, the Chrysler name will no longer exist as a corporate entity.

(FCA CEO Manley gets new assignment following Stellantis merger.)

Stellantis is alive! The company’s stock begins trading on three exchanges Monday.

In many ways, the Chrysler name was a survivor. The company’s been through a variety of mergers, potential mergers and bankruptcies. It escaped the “merger of equals,” DaimlerChrysler from the late 1990s.

It was essentially spared its life when the late Sergio Marchionne swooped in and offered to keep it going if the U.S. government would help it through bankruptcy in 2009. The final deal got done with Chrysler Group LLC becoming part of FCA US LLC to follow

the naming convention of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. on Dec. 16, 2014.

Chrysler Corp. fought its way through several near misses when it came to mergers as potential deals with Japanese automaker Mitsubishi, China’s GAC and most recently an effort to merge with Peugeot’s French rival, Renault S.A., a deal that was reportedly scuttled after demands by the French government, which holds an ownership stake in Renault, were too much for then FCA CEO Mike Manley to accept.

(Fiat, PSA set to get EU go-ahead to complete Stellantis merger.)

Then there was the effort by the aforementioned Marchionne to find a partner for FCA, seemingly almost any partner would do. He approached General Motors and was promptly rebuffed. He reportedly got the same treatment from Volkswagen. There was even a rumored dalliance with EV behemoth Tesla, which would have bolstered FCA’s basically non-existent electric vehicle program.

The arrival of Stellantis means for the first time in 95 years the Chrysler name won’t be on a corporate marquee.

It also survived a previous bankruptcy in the late 1970s, paying off the loans early with its charismatic CEO Lee Iacocca, who came over from Ford, helping to lead the company’s charge back to prosperity. Chrysler did enjoy one major merger success when it acquired American Motors in 1987, including – and especially – the Jeep brand.

In fact, no one seems certain what the future holds for the Chrysler name period. Early in the process, officials said that all brands would be retained, but time and economics often change the equation and currently, the Chrysler brand offers just two products: the Chrysler Pacifica minivan and 300 sedan. Neither are in segments that are seeing sales gains.

To be fair, there’s been some speculation about the survival of the Fiat name in the same vein. Fiat’s been around even longer, founded in Turin, Italy in 1899. In the U.S., it’s only offering the 500X in 2021.

(Fiat Chrysler and PSA not exactly a “merger of equals.”)

The Chrysler name isn’t the only vestige of FCA seemingly taking a step back as its CEO Mike Manley is no longer in charge, that duty going to PSA’s Carlos Tavares nor will he be on the board of directors as John Elkann, FCA’s chairman, will take that spot as the chairman of the new Stellantis. Manley, 56, is now Head of the Americas.


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} div#JkaXGWBzgI div#JkaXGWBzgI_inpost .mo-optin-form-description, div#JkaXGWBzgI div.mo-optin-form-container div#JkaXGWBzgI_inpost p { font-size: 18px !important; } div#JkaXGWBzgI div#JkaXGWBzgI_inpost .mo-optin-form-note { font-size: 14px !important; } }@media screen and (max-width: 480px) { div#JkaXGWBzgI div#JkaXGWBzgI_inpost .mo-optin-form-headline, div#JkaXGWBzgI div.mo-optin-form-container div#JkaXGWBzgI_inpost h2, div#JkaXGWBzgI div.mo-optin-form-container div#JkaXGWBzgI_inpost h1 { font-size: 25px !important; } div#JkaXGWBzgI div#JkaXGWBzgI_inpost .mo-optin-form-description, div#JkaXGWBzgI div.mo-optin-form-container div#JkaXGWBzgI_inpost p { font-size: 16px !important; } div#JkaXGWBzgI div#JkaXGWBzgI_inpost .mo-optin-form-note, div#JkaXGWBzgI div#JkaXGWBzgI_inpost .mo-optin-form-note * { font-size: 12px !important; } } #JkaXGWBzgI #JkaXGWBzgI_inpost .mo-optin-field.mo-optin-form-name-field::-webkit-input-placeholder { color: #555555 !important; } #JkaXGWBzgI #JkaXGWBzgI_inpost .mo-optin-field.mo-optin-form-name-field:-ms-input-placeholder { color: #555555 !important; } #JkaXGWBzgI #JkaXGWBzgI_inpost .mo-optin-field.mo-optin-form-name-field::placeholder { color: #555555 !important; } #JkaXGWBzgI #JkaXGWBzgI_inpost .mo-optin-field.mo-optin-form-email-field::-webkit-input-placeholder { color: #555555 !important; } #JkaXGWBzgI #JkaXGWBzgI_inpost .mo-optin-field.mo-optin-form-email-field:-ms-input-placeholder { color: #555555 !important; } #JkaXGWBzgI #JkaXGWBzgI_inpost .mo-optin-field.mo-optin-form-email-field::placeholder { color: #555555 !important; } div#JkaXGWBzgI .mo-mailchimp-interest-container { margin: 0 10px 2px; } div#JkaXGWBzgI .mo-mailchimp-interest-label { font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 0 2px; } div#JkaXGWBzgI input.mo-mailchimp-interest-choice { line-height: normal; border: 0; margin: 0 5px; } div#JkaXGWBzgI span.mo-mailchimp-choice-label { vertical-align: middle; font-size: 14px; } div#JkaXGWBzgI .mo-mailchimp-interest-choice-container { margin: 5px 0; }div#JkaXGWBzgI .mo-mailchimp-interest-label { display:inline-block!important; } div#JkaXGWBzgI span.mo-mailchimp-choice-label { vertical-align:baseline!important; } div#JkaXGWBzgI .mo-mailchimp-interest-container { padding:18px 0 6px 0; } div#JkaXGWBzgI .mo-mailchimp-choice-label { font-size:16px!important; }

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