FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Italian-American carmaker Fiat Chrysler on Monday proposed a merger of equals with France’s Renault in a deal that could create the world’s third-biggest carmaker and trigger a fresh round of industry consolidation.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of French car manufacturer Renault is seen at a dealership of the company in Illkirch-Graffenstaden near Strasbourg, France, January 10, 2019. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler
Following is a recent history of auto deals:
October 2018 – Volkswagen said it was open to deeper alliances particularly in the area of autonomous driving with Ford.
October 2018 – Honda said it would invest $2.75 billion and take a 5.7% stake in General Motors’ Cruise self-driving unit.
June 2018 – Ford and Volkswagen confirmed an alliance in the area of commercial vehicles. The companies said they had no plans for an equity swap or cross-ownership structure as part of the deal, but were exploring other areas of cooperation.
February 2018 – Geely’s chairman Li Shufu revealed he had bought a 9.69% stake in Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler, worth around $9 billion.
January 10, 2018 – Mazda and Toyota announced they would open a $1.6 billion joint-venture car factory in Huntsville, Alabama, in 2021. Toyota took a 5% stake in Mazda as part of the deal.
August 1, 2017 – General Motors sold its European brands Opel and Vauxhall to France’s PSA Group for 2.2 billion euros in a landmark deal that saw GM abandoning volume sales as its performance benchmark.
June 2017 – Zhejiang Geely Holding Group takes a majority stake in Lotus Cars.
May 2016 – Nissan bought a 34% stake in Mitsubishi Motors, handing it de facto control over the carmaker in a $2.2 billion deal.
January 2016 – Toyota, which already owned 51.2% of Japanese rival Daihatsu, bought the remaining stake in an all stock deal worth $3 billion.
September 2015 – Fiat Chrysler CEO Marchionne proposed a combination with General Motors in an email to chief executive Mary Barra. He was rebuffed.
January 2014 – Fiat, under Marchionne’s leadership, tightened its grip on Chrysler Group LLC by buying the 41.46% stake it did not already own in a $4.35 billion deal.
July 2012 – Volkswagen took full control of Porsche AG, integrating it into its multi-brand empire.
April 2010 – Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn and Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche unveiled an arms-length cooperation alliance including mutual cross-shareholdings of around 3%. In 2014, this is extended to sharing vehicle platforms and a factory in Aguascalientes, Mexico, between Nissan’s Infiniti brand and Mercedes-Benz.
March 2010 – China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group bought Volvo cars from Ford for $1.8 billion.
December 2009 – Renault and Daimler started talks about an alliance.
December 2009 – After Porsche’s derivatives portfolio unraveled in the financial crisis, it turned to Volkswagen and Qatar for help. Volkswagen bought a 49.9% stake in Porsche’s sportscar business for 3.9 billion euros.
June 2009 – General Motors filed for bankruptcy protection.
April 2009 – France pledged 3 billion euro loans for both Renault and its competitor PSA Peugeot Citroen.
April 2009 – Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection.
January 2009 – Porsche said it had amassed a 50.8% stake in Volkswagen through derivatives contracts.
2008 – India’s Tata bought Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford for $2.3 billion.
2007 – Daimler sold an 80% stake in Chrysler to private equity firm Cerberus for 5.5 billion euros, arguing that unwinding the merger was the best way to create “the greatest overall value — both for Daimler and Chrysler”.
October 2005 – Porsche bought an 18.5% stake in Volkswagen AG.
March 2000 – Ford bought Land Rover from BMW for $2.7 billion.
March 2000 – BMW sold Rover Cars to the Phoenix consortium after concluding the brand was “not strong enough to perform the tasks intended for it.” BMW retained ownership of Mini.
March 1999 – Renault and Nissan signed an alliance that resulted in Renault holding a 44.4% stake in Nissan, while Nissan owned 15% of Renault’s shares.
January 1999 – Ford bought Sweden’s Volvo cars for $6.45 billion.
September 1998 – Volkswagen’s unit Audi bought Italian sportscar brand Automobili Lamborghini SpA.
July 1998 – Volkswagen bought Bentley Motor Ltd. and Bugatti Automobiles S.A.
May 1998 – Daimler-Benz bought Chrysler Corp. for $36 billion in a deal promising at least $1 billion in synergies within a year.
January 1994 – BMW bought Britain’s Rover Group for 800 million pounds.
December 1990 – The Czech government allowed Volkswagen AG to buy local carmaker Skoda.
June 1986 – Volkswagen AG bought a 51% stake in Spanish brand Seat.
Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Mark Potter