UBS has cut Fiat’s rating from “buy” to “neutral”. UBS cites its cautious views on car demand in Europe and Brazil as well as heavy trucks and machinery, the areas is which Fiat are strongest. UBS notes that Sergio Marchionne’s grand scenario of spinning off Fiat’s auto division is still the company’s goal, and PSA

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Fiat Downgraded: Marchionne Eying PSA?

Concern among some taxpayer and environmental groups that Chrysler's recent decision to downplay development of fuel-efficient electric vehicles violated a pledge used to gain federal bailout funds are unfounded, an administration official says. ———- Chrysler, which based part of its federal bailout on promised development of electric vehicles such as this “EcoVoyager” concept, has pulled way back on electrification plans since emerging from bankruptcy. ——— “We obviously would be very happy if Chrysler and GM were making lots and lots of high mileage cars [but] it's not a prerequisite. It's not an obligation” of the bankruptcy bailout funding, auto industry restructuring task force chief Ron Bloom said

Mazda Motor Corp. was honored today with the 2009 Technology of the Year award from a non-profit coalition of Japan-based automotive critics and journalists for the automaker's i-stop idling stop-start system, which is a little perplexing. A stop-start system automatically shuts down and restarts an automobile's internal combustion engine to reduce the amount of time the engine spends idling, thereby improving fuel economy. The technology isn't new. Daimler, Fiat, Toyota and other automakers have been putting it in some of its vehicles for a while. So why exactly did the 2009 Automotive Researchers' and Journalists' Conference of Japan decide to recognize Madza's stop-start system now? It's a good question, one we've put to spokesmen for the conference and the automaker. After waiting four hours for a response, we went ahead and posted this piece; we'll update if and when an explanation is offered. In a statement issued to the media, Mazda wrote that its i-stop system is fitted to direct injection engines and uses combustion energy to restart the engine in just 0.35 seconds, about half the time necessary for most other competing systems. This might be why Mazda received the award, but it wasn't stated. The i-stop system also suppresses noise and vibration as the engine shuts down and restarts, ensuring that drivers experience a natural driving feel with no sense of discomfort. Most other stop-start systems do that as well.

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Mazda Wins Innovation Award for Its Stop-Start System But Reason Why Isn’t Clear

Over the past year, we’ve spoken a good bit about the 2010 Ford Transit Connect. Our own John Voelcker gave it a positive review after his test drive last May, and the fuel-efficient van aims to be a major contender in the American market. But before long, the Transit Connect will have some spirited competition: yesterday, Fiat announced plans ..

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Chrysler Expands Its Ram Fleet With Fiat Doblo Compact Van

Before Chrysler was ever involved in alliance dealings with Fiat, the Auburn Hills-based automaker was already tied with Nissan over several platform swapping and production sharing deals. One of these was to sell rebadged versions of the Ram pickup as a replacement for Nissan’s own Titan, but this past summer Chrysler decided to back ..

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Ghosn: Nissan Titan Will Survive Without Chrysler Help

Not long after Fortune’s long time auto writer Alex Taylor III finished his apology to Ford he went on to write a love letter to Sergio Marchionne. Taylor starts with parallels to Ghosn’s myth making success at Nissan, then ups the ante: “The other day in Auburn Hills, Mich., Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne took a

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Editorial: Sergio Marchionne: Savior or False Prophet?

Reuters reports that Japanese manufacturers are running scared from Hyundai-Kia. A combination of a rising Yen and South Korea sealing more and more free trade agreements with other countries has Hyundai-Kia immensely. Of course, copying Toyota’s business model of building reliable cars at affordable prices has helped greatly, too. All this momentum from South Korea

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Is South Korea The New Japan?

Despite a solid launch of the new Ka subcompact car in Europe earlier this year, Ford Motor Co. has reconsidered its plan to bring the subcompact to the U.S. and has decided that the car is too small for American tastes. In an interview with Automotive News (subscription required) published Monday, Ford CEO Alan Mulally said “our view is that Fiesta is about the smallest vehicle that we think will be a real success in the United States.” The Ka, which Ford developed with Fiat, is at 142.5 inches a full 25 inches shorter than the Fiesta, which will go on sale in the U.S. early next year. However, the Ka is more than 3 feet longer than the popular Smart ForTwo, which measures 106.1 inches from bumper to bumper. Both likely would have been priced the same, starting around $12,000 for the base model. The Ka is also a few inches longer than its sister vehicle, the Fiat 500, which Chrysler Group plans to sell in America in 2011. We're disappointed with Ford's decision, because the Ka European motorists can purchase can be had with either of two low-emission engines: a 1.2-liter, 69-horsepower gas-burner or a 1.3-liter, 75-hp turbodiesel. While the EPA never got a chance to provide a fuel-

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Ford Scraps Plan to Bring All-New Fuel-Efficient Ka to U.S., Says It’s Too Small

After a day-long session in which executives from Chrysler Group LLC and its managing partner Fiat S.p.A. made public the company's financial and product strategies that will carry it forward for the next five years, the overall impression is of a plan based on optimistic growth assumptions combined with dubious new-product directions. But not all of Chrysler's five-year outline is unreasonable or illogical. Some aspects, if executed properly and promptly, can help Chrysler distinguish itself from the competition. The three best ideas to come from Chrysler's new business plan: a diesel engine for Jeep; a revamp of Chrysler's mid-size sedans; and a plan to pay back government loans.

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Some Good Ideas from Chrysler’s Turnaround Plan

Chrysler's ENVI Group, formed in 2007 to develop a line of electrified vehicles for the company's three brands, has been disbanded and its January pledge to have 500,000 conventional and plug-in hybrid-electric and all-electric vehicles on the road by 2013 has been junked under its new, Fiat-controlled leadership. In an i nterview with Reuters news service Friday, Chrysler spokesman Nick Cappa – who only a few days before had assured us that the ENVI team was still “quietly” moving along – said the special group has been disbanded and its work “absorbed into the normal vehicle development program.” Prior to its bankruptcy and takeover by Fiat, Chrysler had showed a suite of five electric and PHEV vehicles and promised to have at least one in production by next year. But last week, in delivering a day-long look at Chrysler's post-bankruptcy 5-year product and business plan, executives including Sergio Marchionne – CEO of both Fiat and Chrysler – made no mention of electric vehicles . And Marchionne later told some reporters, according to Reuters, that electric cars would represent less than 2 percent of Chrysler's anticipated sales in 2015. That would be fewer than 60,000 – far from the 500,000 promised at the Detroit Auto Show in January, a few months before the car maker filed for bankruptcy. Marchionne does plan to bring the Dodge Ram dual-mode hybrid to market next year and to introduce the fuel-efficient Fiat 500 and a lot of Fiat&#…

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BREAKING: Chrysler Disbands EV Group, Scuttles Broad Electrification Plan