Ferrari and Renault to form F1 alliance? (2nd Update)

Merger talk has been cancelled.

UPDATE This rumor is now downgraded to 'false.' Fiat Chrysler says political conditions in France caused it to withdraw its offer to merge with French automaker Renault.

The company says its board made the decision at a meeting Wednesday evening. An FCA statement says it has become clear that the political conditions don’t currently exist for the deal to proceed successfully.

FCA thanked Renault and its alliance partners Nissan and Mitsubishi for their constructive work on the proposal.

The company says it will deliver on its commitments with a strategy to remain independent.

Fiat Chrysler had proposed merging with Renault to create the world’s third-biggest automaker, worth almost $40 billion.

The combined company would have produced some 8.7 million vehicles a year, more than General Motors and trailing only Volkswagen and Toyota.

06/05/19 Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has reached a tentative agreement with France on the terms of its proposed merger with Renault, two sources told Reuters, as the French carmaker's board met to consider the bid late on Wednesday.

The French state, which owns 15 percent of Renault, had been seeking more influence over the merged company, firmer job guarantees and improved terms for Renault shareholders in return for blessing the $35 billion tie-up.

Renault, FCA and the French government all declined to comment on the ongoing board discussions.

The new understanding between Paris and FCA, nine days after the Italian-American carmaker pitched its offer, does not mean that Renault board approval is automatic, the two sources close to the talks also cautioned.

Renault directors meeting at the company's Boulogne-Billancourt headquarters outside Paris may decide on Wednesday whether to approve a memorandum of understanding or framework agreement that would begin the long process of a full merger.

FCA has been locked in talks with Renault and the French state over its bid to create the world's third-biggest carmaker. France has broadly welcomed the deal, on condition it guarantees Renault's domestic blue-collar jobs and plants. Autonews

06/03/19 (GMM) Well-known Ferrari insider Leo Turrini predicts that the Maranello team and Renault are about to align politically in F1.

Fiat Chrysler chairman John Elkann is reportedly behind a $37 billion proposal to merge the carmaker with Renault. The new alliance would make Fiat Chrysler Renault the third largest automotive player in the world, behind Toyota and Volkswagen.

But Turrini said the deal would not have a massive impact on Formula 1.

"First, Ferrari as a company and a racing team is not part of the FCA world. The spin off from the parent company averted the danger that Maranello would be swallowed by such a mega deal," he told his Quotidiano blog.

"But with an equal agreement with the French, it is logical to suppose that Renault would coordinate its political positions with Ferrari more than it already does in F1."

Turrini also thinks the Renault-Fiat alliance could spell trouble for the late Sergio Marchionne's plans with Alfa Romeo in F1.

"In his absence, and now with Simone Resta's return to Italy, the project seems to have jammed," he said.