China's Great Wall Downplays Fiat Chrysler Buy

China's Great Wall Motor Co. is moving away from a bid to acquire part or all of Fiat Chrysler a day after expressing interest in the company and its Jeep brand, reports Bloomberg.

by Staff

August 23, 2017

China's Great Wall Downplays Fiat Chrysler Buy — *Photo of Fiat Chrysler headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich., courtesy of FCA.*

1 min to read

*Photo of Fiat Chrysler headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich., courtesy of FCA.*

China's Great Wall Motor Co. is moving away from a bid to acquire part or all of Fiat Chrysler a day after expressing interest in the company and its Jeep brand, reports Bloomberg.

A day after expressing interest, the Baoding-based automaker said there are "big uncertainties" about whether it would continue to pursue interest in a public filing.

Automotive News had first reported that Great Wall Motor's president, Wang Fengying, plans to contact FCA to discuss acquiring the Jeep brand. A Great Wall Motor press official then told Reuters the company has "an intention to acquire" FCA.

Great Wall reportedly asked for a meeting with FCA to make an offer, but Bloomberg reports there has been no contact between the boards of the companies.

FCA's CEO Sergio Marchionne has made public statements that FCA would benefit from merging with another automaker such as Ford or General Motors, and has indicated that he wouldn't sell Jeep or the Ram Truck brand as standalone units.

Great Wall is China's largest sport utility vehicle (SUV) and pickup manufacturer.

Editor's note: Story updated on Aug. 22 with new information from the Bloomberg report.

Topics:China FCA Mergers & Acquisitions Jeep Global Fleet

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