Handwriting's on the wall as they say.. to me.
So I wouldnt be surprised by anything that happens on the business transaction front in the next 12 months.
First, I aint dissin' FCA or any part of it. Nor am I insensitive to the people issues if it (or big chunks of it) were to change hands in a transaction(s). And I have absolutely NO non-public info .. i just read the same public info everybody can access.
To me, I agree with others above that FCA most looks like a collection of brands: Commercial/industrial vehicles, "Chrysler" minivans, "RAM", "Jeep", "Maserati", and "Ferrari".
Passenger cars for everyday people? Not for long. Nary an electric vehicle or driverless car (despite the deal with Intel last week) as ready as the others have .. and without the "lettuce" to stay in the until those nascent markets take off.
PLUS all the stuff a few of you noted - especially stuff happening with the requests of the dealers to make it easier to "break up." I didnt know any of that.
Plus softening demand in its biggest markets (Europe and NA) , the "overhang" the short-term leases that mature next 18-24 months on top of that (e.g., good USED cars will be CHEAPER, eating into NEW car sales), and then the quality of product .. well let's just say that that doesn't make the company more valuable.
Won't bore anyone with a technical analysis (nerdy, bean counter and financier stuff) from a past life, but my back of the envelope scribbles says to me the "breakup value" is worth more than it is as a "going concern".
Translation: if you sell the pieces and you get more TOTAL money for it than selling the whole thing intact. I don't see it getting more valuable (market cap) in the future either.
I dunno what's gonna happen, or what's really in the minds of FCA management, about the future of their company. I am saying that, to me, a breakup scenario is easiest for me to see with TODAY's facts.
TOMORROW, it could all change. Maybe Alphabet or Apple -- both with gazillions of dollars from loose change under the couch cushions in their corporate lunchrooms -- finally decide to MAKE cars. Not IC-engined vehicles .. but rather autonomonous electrics.
Dont laugh.