Fiat Chrysler PROPOSES marriage to Renault – Renault will “study with interest”

Fiat Chrysler has proposed a 50:50 merger with Renault, and Renault has responded by saying it will study the proposal with interest.

Rumours have been floating a round for months that Fiat Chrysler is about to propose a 50:50 merger with Renault. And now it’s confirmed.

The proposal from Fiat Chrysler (FCA) would see Renault – and its Nissan and Mitsubishi alliance – merge with FCA to create what would be the world’s third largest car maker, with pushing on nine million sales a year.

FCA’s plan would see no plant closures, with savings for the proposed group coming from future development costs and sharing of engines and platforms, and would in the process create a new powerful company spanning everything from city cars to luxury and supercars.

All this is coming initially from FCA, but now Renault has held a board meeting to respond to the offer. Their press release said:

Renault’s Board of Directors met today to examine the proposal received from FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) regarding a potential 50/50 merger between Renault S.A. and FCA.

After careful review of the terms of FCA’s friendly proposal, the Board of Directors decided to study with interest the opportunity of such a business combination, comforting Groupe Renault’s manufacturing footprint and creating additional value for the Alliance.

A further communication will be issued in due course to inform the market of the results of these discussions, in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

It sounds like a plan.