Fiat Chrysler boss gives up dream of GM merger

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), Sergio Marchionne, says he’s given up trying to merge with US auto giant, General Motors, after being rejected four months ago.

Outspoken Marchionne had originally suggested a merger in an email to GM’s CEO, Mary Barra, outlining plans that would save billions of dollars if she agreed on a radical merging of the two companies.

After Marchionne spoke openly with the press about his plans to consolidate the auto industry to reduce the crippling costs of research and development, many senior GM execs, including GM Europe Opel boss, Karl-Thomas Neumann, ruled out any possibility of teaming up with Marchionne’s automotive group. Neumann went so far as to declare the proposed merger as a “big mistake”.

Next Marchionne attempted to lobby some of the biggest shareholders in GM to force the board to the negotiating table to discuss his plans but late last night the FCA boss was finally willing to admit defeat.

Speaking to the newspaper, the New York Times, FCA CEO Marchionne said:

"I was rebuffed once, and I won't go back to get my nose bloodied a second time”.

Despite the failure, Marchionne added that he still believed his plans were sound and that a merger was still the right thing to do for the good of the industry.

"The pitch is that there is a better to way to run this business," he said. "I'll wait, and we'll get it done.” FCA’s boss told the New York Times.