Mario Vs Donkey Kong Minis March Again Rom' title='Mario Vs Donkey Kong Minis March Again Rom' />Chinese Automakers Are Reportedly Considering Buying Fiat Chrysler. Good morning Welcome to The Morning Shift, your roundup of the auto news you crave, all in one place every weekday morning. Here are the important stories you need to know. Gear Here Comes The Merger For years, citing a desire to reduce costs and redundancies, Fiat Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne has sought a merger with just about everyone, perhaps most notably General Motors. Theyve all given him the Heisman. Its very sad. But a scintillating report out of Automotive News says that Fiat Chrysler is being eyeballed by several Chinese automakers seeking a turnkey operation with a presence in North America, Latin America and other markets, and at least one made an offer this month that was rejected for not being enough. Zounds Meanwhile, other sources independently identified executives from other large Chinese automakers conducting their own due diligence on a potential purchase of FCA, including meeting last week with representatives of U. S. retail groups about a potential acquisition. A source said FCA executives have traveled to China to meet with Great Wall Motor Co. And Chinese delegations were seen last week at FCAs headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich. Chinese companies are under government pressure to expand outside China by acquiring foreign companies. FCA may be a perfect target, given that CEO Sergio Marchionne has focused on streamlining the automakers operations to make it enticing to a buyer, making bold moves such as exiting small cars and sedans and revamping the companys manufacturing footprint. Its unclear which Chinese automaker or automakers are pursuing FCA. Mario Vs Donkey Kong Minis March Again Romaji' title='Mario Vs Donkey Kong Minis March Again Romaji' />Different sources have pointed to involvement by different ones Dongfeng Motor Corp., Great Wall, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group or FCAs current joint venture partner in China, Guangzhou Automobile Group. But it is also unclear which company or companies are likely to follow through or succeed. Theres a lot to unpack in this story. For one, it says a potential FCA sale could include Jeep, Ram, Chrysler and Dodge, but would exclude Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Maseratisomewhat surprising to hear, given how important Alfa seems to be to future car platforms. Then again, it could hypothetically take years to untangle a mechanical alliance. And as the story notes, its important to remember that the Chinese car companies still take a ton of direction from that countrys government, often merging and consolidating at their request. Those companies are under government pressure to expand their global reach and especially gain a foothold in the North American market. A purchase of FCAmuch like Geely did with Volvowould be an easy and quick way to do that. The video game, featuring Donkey Kong in the cage next to Mario, and Donkey Kong Jr. Donkey Kong, Donk Kongu, do. Donkey. And, this The prospect of selling FCA to a Chinese automaker has been on Marchionnes mind awhile. In August 2. 01. 5, months after he began his quest to merge or partner with another global automaker with his Confessions of a Capital Junkie presentation, and while he was launching his soon to be rebuffed bid to merge with GM, the FCA CEO told Automotive News that he had closely studied potential tie ups with numerous Asian automakers. His conclusion None of the Asian automakers was looking for partners. He was asked Anyone in AsiaI dont think Asia is partnerable, he said. No, you can be acquired by the Asians. I think China will buy you. This makes a lot of sense, for both FCA and the Chinese We will see what happens. Gear Smart Shrinks. Besides the Car. 2Go serviceand its not even clear if thats profitableits safe to say North America never quite warmed up to the Smart Fortwo the way European city dwellers have. Now Smart is going all electric in this market. Thats probably a wise move, but it does carry the consequence of even fewer Smart stores here. Two thirds of dealers have chosen to drop the brand entirely than bother selling the little EVs, Automotive News reports Smart announced that it will be selling electrified versions of the For. Two Coupe and the For. TwoRead more Read. More than two thirds of U. S. Smart retail outlets have opted to stop selling Daimler AGs microcar brand after it switches this year to offering only electric vehicles here. The shakeout will leave Smart with just 2. Lamborghini and Lotus. Mercedes Benz USA, which distributes Smart in the U. S., asked dealers to decide by the end of June whether to continue selling the For. Two two seater, the brands sole nameplate. Of Smarts 8. 5 outlets, 2. Donna Boland. Those numbers are preliminary, she said. The 2. 7 remaining Smart dealerships are largely concentrated in states with zero emission vehicle mandates and that give Smart the highest market penetration potential, Boland said. Daimler executives had said they expected the remaining dealerships to be in cities such as San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Portland, Ore. I can see both sides here. On one hand, dealers are often criticized for not really bothering to sell plug in hybrids or electric vehicles, focusing instead on conventional inventory because its easier to move. This is one of several reasons Tesla has for not opting into a franchise dealer system. On the other hand I can see where a Smart EV is a tough sell, except in markets like California where cheap lease deals are super common. Does Smart even have a future in America Gear Why Toyota Goes Big On North America. With the often unpredictable President Donald Trump in office and NAFTA in his crosshairs, automakers seem wary about the future of trade rules in this region. That hasnt stopped Toyota, which has a gigantic manufacturing base in this continent already, from going even bigger. Its planning a new factory in the U. S. with Mazda, a factory in Mexico and expansion plans in Canada. What gives Via Automotive News It gets Toyota on the good side of President Donald Trump, who months ago blasted the automaker over its Mexico plans. It launches a bidding war among states in a process that could spread Toyotas political clout. It does nothing to alienate Mexico, which was left hanging earlier this year when Ford scratched plans for a car factory. It helps accelerate Toyotas push to rebalance its product mix and production capacity toward light trucks. The reconfiguration doesnt affect the expansion of RAV4 production in Canada, which has become a hub for hot selling crossovers from Toyota and Lexus. As the story notes, Toyotas big problem at the moment is undercapacity. While other automakers like GM deal with too much supply, Toyota cant meet customer demand quick enough. Ganesh Charitra there. Investing locally and quickly helps mitigate that. Gear Weekly Car Payments We all know how Americans love to buy cars these days with super long terms on high interest rates and at price tags they cant really afford, because were all just temporarily embarrassed millionaires whose ships will come in any day now, and Mr. Trump will make us all rich like he promised, so who cares anyway Things felt like they were finally turning around for Aaron Woodrum in March 2. Read more Read. Turns out the Canadians are about to give us a run for our moneypardon the pun. The new trend in our neighbor to the north, Reuters reports, is smaller car payments done more frequently that add up to more in the end. Great Canadians are making smaller payments more frequently on auto term loans as new financing offers lure buyers away from the typical monthly billing cycle, a trend public advocacy groups say could push consumers to purchase more expensive vehicles that they simply cannot afford. Because long term car loans tend to involve lower monthly or bi weekly payments, extended terms can encourage consumers to buy more car than they may be able to afford, said Kathryn Dunn, a spokeswoman for the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. This new financing trend has made it easier for consumers to pile on debt, further extending already over leveraged households.