Fiat Chrysler's new CEO, Mike Manley, is interviewed, Monday, Jan. 14, 2019, at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Manley says major job cuts or an alliance with other automakers are not in the plans for Italian-American automaker. Manley took over for the late Sergio Marchionne last year. Three years ago, Marchionne was shopping for a partner and said the industry needed to consolidate to better share huge capital investment costs.
FCA and its former CEO, the late Sergio Marchionne, took considerable flak for what some observers called an overly cautious approach to autonomous vehicle technology and ride-hailing service. GM has acquired Cruise Automation, the San Francisco startup that is operating autonomous Chevrolet Bolts delivering food in that city, and its Maven app-based car-sharing program that enables users to rent cars by the hour. Ford has teamed with Domino’s Pizza to deliver pizzas in and around Ann Arbor, Mich., in autonomous Ford Fusion Hybrids.To be sure, FCA has developed a partnership with Waymo, formerly known as Google’s self-driving vehicle project.
None of this cushions FCA from what most industry leaders see as a period of head-spinning change and turmoil, especially in urban transportation. Tuesday's announcement included plans to make plug-in hybrid versions of all the new Jeep models, with the flexibility to make battery-electric models some day.