It’s been no secret that FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne has been searching for a company that could buy FCA and take over the business. Hyundai could be the one to do it.
With his retirement on the horizon, Marchionne has reached out to a few different companies to try and find a partner that would be able to take over and work with the current brands that fall under the FCA umbrella. So far, we’ve heard that proposals have been made to General Motors, Volkswagen, and China’s Great Wall Motor Co. to find a partner that could take over and lead FCA into the future.
The Hyundai Interest
New information has surfaced that tells us the Hyundai may be interested in taking over FCA, but only if certain things take place. Reports from the Asia Times tell us that Hyundai CEO Chung Mong-koo is waiting for the FCA share price to fall before he makes a bid for the automotive group. The goal is to acquire a majority stake in FCA sometime between now and the 2019 shareholders meeting which will take place in May of 2019. The question is whether or not this will be the right partner for FCA to take on.
Other new information that’s surfaced is that Marchionne faked the interest from the Chinese company in order to put more pressure on Hyundai because he knew this Korean company was interested in purchasing the company. This pressure might not have been necessary, FCA could easily be the right place for Hyundai to put its energies and money in order to move forward in the automotive world. Hyundai is interested and certainly might be the right partner for the brand, but there could be some overlap that may cause challenges as these two get together and create a new automotive group.
The Overlap, the Growth, the Potential Merger
Right now, Hyundai and its sister brand Kia have a strong economy car business in North America and offer us a fantastic selection that fits into most budgets. While the newest brand, Genesis, was recently launched to offer us a few luxury models to enjoy, the pair doesn’t have many luxury options. buying FCA would add Maserati and Alfa Romeo to the mix and give the company the luxury platform that’s missing. Another quality that FCA can add to the Hyundai group is the Jeep and Ram brands which bring in more capable SUVs and pickup trucks to the mix.
Hyundai is also interested in gaining access to the FCA North American distribution network to offer more of what you want. If this merger takes place, it would create the largest automotive group in the world with a large number of brands under the Hyundai FCA umbrella. Some of the leaders of the two companies have investments and interests in both companies. This is certainly something we need to keep a watchful eye on to see if the Hyundai and FCA companies are able to merge together to become one massive automotive group.
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