Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne has never been a fan of electric vehicles, but he did say that FCA would be open to building its own compact electric car, provided that it makes good business sense for the company. In a conversation with Automotive News Europe, Marchionne pointed to the Tesla Model 3 as the likely barometer that determines if FCA would jump into the EV bandwagon. If Tesla is successful with the recently introduced Model 3, Marchionne said that FCA would “copy the formula, add the Italian design flair, and get it to the market within 12 months."
But saying so and doing it are two different things and given Marchionne’s well-documented haughtiness towards electric vehicles, it remains to be seen if the FCA CEO will be true to his word. For now, he remains convinced that Tesla won’t make a profit with the Model 3 with its $35,000 price tag. Even the incredibly high number of reservations – now approaching 400,000 pre-orders – for the car wasn’t enough to convince him that Tesla could build and deliver all of them while still make a good profit at the end of the day.
In the event that Tesla does prove him wrong, he won’t have any problem joining the party at a late hour. Just don’t try to convince him that having an EV Ferrari is a good idea. In his own words, “you’d have to shoot me first” before we see an electric Prancing Horse hit the market.
Continue after the jump to read the full story.
from Top Speed http://ift.tt/1SVe71W
via IFTTT
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire