An employee at Fiat Chrysler’s Windsor assembly plant is working in December 2016 inside the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid chassis.
Fiat Chrysler
The shareholders of the Italian-American car manufacturer Fiat Chrysler and PSA Groupe from France approved on Monday a merger plan to create Stellantis, the fourth car group in the world.
The vote was one of the last steps for the merger, which companies expect to close on January 16. PSA CEO Carlos Tavares, who will lead the combined company, said the deal removed all regulatory hurdles.
Stellantis’ common shares will begin trading on Mercato Telematico Azionario in Milan and Euronext in Paris on January 18, followed by the New York Stock Exchange on January 19.
“We are ready. We are ready for this merger. We are ready for this value creation,” Tavares said at a virtual shareholders’ meeting on Monday. He called this a “historic moment” for the company.
The merger is expected to provide about 5 billion euros, or 6.1 billion dollars, in annual cost savings, according to officials. The manufacturer’s operations will be largely in North America and Europe. Stellantis will include 14 car brands – from Maserati, Jeep and Ram to Fiat Chrysler, to Peugeot, Citroen and Opel of PSA.
Plans for the merger were initially confirmed by companies in late 2019. Fiat Chrysler, the world’s seventh-largest automaker, has been looking for a link to scale up and consolidate costs for several years.