菲亚特CEO高空走钢丝

菲亚特提高对克莱斯勒的控股权

    去年，马基奥尼行使了从VEBA购买克莱斯勒股权的权利（VEBA是克莱斯勒退休员的医疗福利信托基金）。本次购买的3.3%的股权，使菲亚特对克莱斯勒的控股权提高到了68.49%。为了达成这次收购，他使用了一些新债务和再融资债务作为权益之计。马基奥尼希望能完全控制克莱斯勒，以便利用克莱斯勒的资产促进菲亚特的发展。马基奥尼有权增持克莱斯勒的股权至75%，只要他能在2014年7月前完成收购。现在他还在与VEBA就剩余股份的价格谈判。VEBA认为这些股份价值103亿美元，而马基奥尼认为它们只值42亿美元，最终结果将由特拉华州的一个法院裁定。

与美国公路交通安全管理局对着干

    美国交通安全管理局（NHTSA）近日要求克莱斯勒召回270万辆吉普车型，原因是它们存在油箱泄漏隐患，可能导致车辆追尾后起火燃烧。而马基奥尼居然决定与美国交通安全管理局对着干，据称他认为吉普追尾后的起火燃烧率并不高于其它车型。为了表明自己的态度，马基奥尼还应美国交通运输部部长雷•拉胡德的要求与他在芝加哥进行了会面。会后，克莱斯勒同意召回156万辆较老的吉普车型，以安装能够保护油箱的拖车挂钩装置，把剩下的270万辆汽车纳入一项不那么严重的“客户服务活动”——无论从哪个角度来看，马基奥尼都获得了显著的胜利。

与中国合作伙伴“斗智斗勇”

    从某个角度看，马基奥尼好像正在和中国合作伙伴——广汽集团（Guangzhou Automobile Group）斗智斗勇。克莱斯勒打算2014年在中国生产10万辆新吉普车型，但是由于中国政府对外国汽车厂商的特殊准入政策，克莱斯勒必须要与一家中国国内厂商合资才能建厂造车。大概为了避免广汽集团占地利而在合作中一家独大，马基奥尼决定来个“狡兔三窟”。据路透社（Reuters）报道，马基奥尼称：“在中国，我们有一个很好的合作伙伴，而且我们也存在利用第二个合作伙伴发展吉普的可能性。”他补充道，虽然一切都不确定，但是他已经收到了“几家中国厂商表示出的兴趣”。如果他想在与广汽的合同中榨取更多的价值，那么这番虚张声势可谓极为有效。

    马基奥尼的这些招数究竟有多少效果，现在仍是未知。德拉华州法庭对股权收购价的判决可能还等上几个月。遭遇一些负面舆论后，马基奥尼可能会发现与美国交通安全管理局周旋变得愈发困难了。但我们也应该表扬他身先士卒、冲锋陷阵的勇气。通用汽车CEO丹•阿克森喜欢把自己比作罗斯福总统那样的“竞技场上的勇士，脸上满是伤痕、灰尘、汗水和鲜血”，而现在马基奥尼正是这样一个活生生的例子。（财富中文网）

    译者：朴成奎

Fiat boosts its stake in Chrysler

    For the past year, Marchionne has been exercising options to buy Chrysler shares from VEBA, the medical benefits trust for Chrysler's retirees. His latest purchase of 3.3% increases Fiat's ownership to 68.49%. He's using new and refinanced debt as a stopgap to make the purchase. Marchionne wants full control of Chrysler so he can use its finances to help prop up Fiat, and he has the right to increase Fiat's stake to 75% if he can get it done by July 2014. He's still fighting with VEBA over the price of the remaining shares. VEBA thinks they are worth $10.3 billion; Marchionne $4.2 billion. The difference will be settled by a Delaware court.

Marchionne takes on NHTSA

    In a highly unusual move, Marchionne decided to fight a federal recall of 2.7 million Jeeps for fuel-tank leaks that cause fires in rear-end collisions. Marchionne was said to believe that Jeep's rate of fatal rear-impact crashes was no greater than the rate for other vehicles. To make his case, Marchionne met face-to-face with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, at LaHood's request, at a sit-down in Chicago. After the meeting, Chrysler agreed to recall only some 1.56 million older-model Jeeps, so that it can install trailer hitches that protect the gas tank, and designate the rest of the 2.7 million as part of a less-onerous "customer service action" -- by all appearances a considerable victory for Marchionne.

Marchionne messes with the heads of his China partners

    From a distance, it looked like Marchionne was playing mind games with his Chinese partner, Guangzhou Automobile Group. Chrysler aims to produce more than 100,000 new Jeep models in China in 2014, and under government rules for foreign automakers, it must pair up with a domestic company to build them. Just in case GAG thought it had an inside track for the deal, Marchionne decided to rattle its cage. "In China we have a good partner, and we have the possibility to use a second one to develop Jeep," he was quoted by Reuters as saying. He added that nothing was certain but that he had had "a number of expressions of interest" from other Chinese automakers. If he wanted to extract better terms from GAG for the deal, he couldn't have used a more effective bluff.

    How effective all this will be is unclear. The Delaware court's decision on share prices is still to come and could take months, and Marchionne will likely find it harder to tangle with NHTSA again after getting some negative press. But give him all the credit for being there in the public eye, leading from the front. General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) CEO Dan Akerson likes to fashion himself after Teddy Roosevelt as "the man in the arena, whose face is marred with dust and sweat and blood." But Sergio Marchionne is actually living like one.