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FWIW I've been seeing a lot of the Fiat 500 driving around.  Seem to hit the middle aged woman demographic.  Women spend money.  They were on the floor of a GGP mall as well.  Never saw them left alone.  Middle eastern family folks seemed to be liking them as well.

 

I see plenty of Fiat 500s in the SF Bay Area as well. Probably 90% of drivers are ladies.

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Stating the obvious I know, but Marchionne is just phenomenal. I loved this quote on page 31 of the transcript:

 

I think the next step in fixing Europe is utilization of the industrial network to produce something other than mass market bound cars. We’ve been clear on this issue, we do not see a future for the continuation of this industrial framework to try and satisfy demand in a market which is over-serviced. And so we’re slowly moving our production assets towards that end. You’ve seen from the margins that we’ve been able to extract out of Maserati as to what is potentially doable if these assets are utilized for the right brand for global distribution. I think you need to give us time to continue to develop the rest of our network on that basis. I think at completion of the plan, we will be more than in positive territory. But it’s not going to come from the traditional application of the traditional brands in the European market. It just won’t happen. And I continue to be incredibly negative about the possibility of this market effectively coming back in and producing margins that allow anyone to recover the capital costs associated with the investments. So we had to get out of the sandbox. We’ve had this discussion before. And I’m as convinced now as I’ve ever been about the fact that our strategic direction is correct. But it’s not going to happen out of selling mass market cars, I can tell you, it won’t happen. There’s not enough margin left in the business to try and get that done.

 

 

Huge margin potential out of Chrysler too. 2013 MOP was 4.44% of revenue. After net interest expense of 994 and a 40% tax rate, net income is 1,223, or 1.08 per Fiat share. At 8.33X, Chrysler is worth $9 per Fiat share.

 

GM's North American goal is 10% EBIT margin....at a 7% MOP margin, Chrysler's EPS rises to 1.98, and is worth $16.53 at the same multiple, or $19.85 at 10X.

 

Sooo much potential here.

 

I dont really get it. Ferrari and maserati are included in there? I dont see them in the chrysler presentation. It says  it generated 2.1 billion $US in FCF in 2013. and like 2.5 bn$ projected net income expected in 2014. Which brands are that? Does that include Alfa romeo, ferrari and maserati? It does say fiat, does that include those other italian brands as well? I guess with possibly 2.5 bn$ in net income, it should deserve a 20bn$ market cap at the very least.

 

Anyway it looks cheap.

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Hi all, thanks for all the insight you guys have given. Wish I had looked at this name much earlier.

 

On an EV/EBITDA basis this company is very cheap. However, considering the sizeable difference in CAPEX vs. depreciation (9% vs. 5.5% of revenue, respectively), I'm wondering how you guys are thinking about the substantial cash burn due to sizeable debt load and capex? Any insight into how long capex will remain elevated? Seems like any margin/growth improvements have a minimal affect on (negative) FCF vs. a more normalized capex spend.

 

I can see the multi-bagger scenario assuming the company can get through its significant capex investment phase. With normalized assumptions and higher margins at Maserati, $25 is reasonable.

 

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Ferrari profits hit new record, despite fewer sales

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26243133

 

One more piece of news to share:

 

Dealers order more than 8,000 diesel-powered Ram 1500s in 3 days

March total equals almost half of normal output

 

http://www.autonews.com/article/20140218/RETAIL01/140219854/dealers-order-over-8000-diesel-powered-ram-1500s-in-3-days

 

 

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my friend in China who's an actress recently posted in her blog a picture in front of a Maserati dealership. Maybe they are selling well in China too!

I think tesla is also getting a lot of attentions there, but I heard people had to wait till end of the year. People can get tesla cheaper than a BMW 3 series in China, so it's not a status symbol.

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my friend in China who's an actress recently posted in her blog a picture in front of a Maserati dealership. Maybe they are selling well in China too!

I think tesla is also getting a lot of attentions there, but I heard people had to wait till end of the year. People can get tesla cheaper than a BMW 3 series in China, so it's not a status symbol.

 

On that note, here's a story from Automotive News that I read a couple of months ago.

 

http://europe.autonews.com/article/20131118/ANE/131119927/maserati-quattroporte-sales-boosted-by-young-female-executives-in

 

"Forty percent of our clients in China are very successful young businesswoman who love European craftsmanship and want to be chauffeured in their new Quattroportes," Maserati CEO Harald Wester told Automotive News Europe.

 

Maybe Maseratis are the auto equivalents of ultra-luxury designer handbags to Chinese women?  They are pretty stylish.

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