Fiat Chrysler unveils plans on more e- cars

In his last major presentation as CEO of Fiat Chrysler, Sergio Marchionne announced a big investment push to make more electrified cars, while acknowledging that traditional engines will continue to dominate production. Unveiling the company’s plans through 2022, long after his planned retirement next year, Marchionne said Fiat Chrysler will invest $ 10.5 billion as it tries to catch up in the market for gas- electric hybrids and fully electric vehicles, without forsaking a core market that still wants internal combustion engines. “Reducing our dependence on oil is one of the single, greatest challenges that our society faces,” Marchionne told financial analysts as he presented the business plan that will be a final legacy to the company he created through the merger of Fiat with failing Chrysler. “At FCA, we believe there is no single solution, no magic formula, to solve this problem. We believe to achieve a quantum leap, the entire system — political, economic and industrial — needs to work together with the right measure of realism based on finding the appropriate balance between consumption levels, cost and efficiency.” “Conventional internal comb - ustion engines will continue to be in the vast majority of our production,” he said. The day- long presentation focused on plans for the brands that drive revenues: Jeep SUVs, Ram trucks and premium brands Maserati and Alfa Romeo. CFO Richard Palmer said by 2022 those brands would represent 80 per cent of revenues, compared with 65 per cent today.