Remember "DaimlerChrysler"? Well, that didn't go so well.
Maybe "Fiat Chrysler Automobiles" will fare much better.
The company that owns Chrysler Group LLC, Fiat SpA, announced the name change today:
Today, the Board of Directors of Fiat S.p.A. (“Fiat”) approved a corporate reorganization and the formation of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (“FCA”) as a fully-integrated global automaker... In order to establish a true peer to the major global automotive groups, in both scale and capital market appeal, the Board has decided to establish Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V., organized in the Netherlands, as the parent company of the Group. FCA’s common shares will be listed in New York and Milan.
The newly formed company's stock will be traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Current Fiat shareholders will receive one share of FCA for each Fiat share they're holding.
The newly named company released its new logo as well today. A logo they say "lends itself to an extraordinary range of symbolic interpretations."
CEO of Fiat and Chrysler Sergio Marchionne called the corporate reorganization "one of the most important days in my career at Fiat and Chrysler."
More from Marchionne in their announcement:
"Five years ago we began to cultivate a vision that went beyond industrial cooperation to include full cultural integration at all levels. We have worked tenaciously and single-mindedly to transform differences into strengths and break down barriers of nationalistic or cultural resistance. Today we can say that we have succeeded in creating solid foundations for a global automaker with a mix of experience and know-how on a level with the best of our competitors. An international governance structure and listings will complete this vision and improve the Group’s access to global markets bringing obvious financial benefits."
So Chrysler is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The newly organized company's headquarters will be in the Netherlands, and FCA will be a "resident for tax purposes in the United Kingdom."
In his piece in today's Detroit News, Bryce Hoffman reports that Marchionne said where a company is registered is not important in today's economy:
“We live in a world where power travels. It has no fixed abode,” Marchionne said, noting he essentially lives on an airplane. “The implications for the manufacturing sites, for the level of employment and so on are negligible. They’re irrelevant.”
Hoffman writes that the move to the Netherlands might not sit well with many Italians.
The company says the reorganization will not mean layoffs at manufacturing plants or changes in current bases of operations:
The existing organization based on four operating regions will remain central to the operating and management structure of the new Group.
