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49 AutoData | February 2019 their investments and their savings in a few weeks”. Of the countless companies that have been knocked out there were two of the three Detroit’s icons, General Motors and Chrysler, which together registered an al- most unbelievable loss of US$ 31 billion only that year. The US government intervened: it gran- ted a fat loan to GM and offered help to anyonewhowanted to save Chrysler – and Fiat did. Luiz Carlos Mello, former presi- dent of Ford Brasil, recalls: “Fiat did not buy Chrysler, it absorbed it. It was more than a gift: the US government was gi- ving Chrysler for free. It was an opportunity that Fiat had the willingness to accept”. The United States applied US$ 6 billion in Chrysler, but even so the companymade a concordat and the government nowhol- ds 8 % of shares, besides the withdrawal of Daimler and Cerberus fund. At the end of the first half in 2009, Fiat entered with a 20% stake in the so-called New Chrysler, of which 55%was in the hands of the UAW, Union Auto Workers. At that time, less than five years have passed since Fiat Group was in the com- mand of SergioMarchionne, whose original ideawas to unite not only Chrysler but also GM to Fiat. Across the Atlantic the revenue had shrunk from € 59,6 billion referred to the previous year to € 50.1 billion. The offer was to take over 20% of Chrysler without applying money, offering in return only access to the Italian group’s platforms, en- gine technologies, production organization and support for global vehicle distribution. Marchionne envisaged three items in special: the potential of the Jeep brand, the possibility of expanding the Fiat markets, summarized essentially to Brazil and Italy, and the great profits from the large pickup trucks of the Dodge RAM line. Gradually, Fiat increased its share in Chrysler until reaching 60% and, in 2014, gave a € 3.65 billion hit to take 100% of one of the most emblematic companies in the United States, creator of minivans with Dodge and a specialist in 4x4 with Jeep. Soon after, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles was born, simply FCA. In a single house it gathered such valuable like Alfa Romeo, Of the 100 most sold cars in the world, six FCA Toyota Corolla | 995 356 Jeep Wrangler 250 489 Jeep Renegade 223 799 Jeep Grand Cherokee 233 970 1st 12th 30th 51th 61th 56th 65th RAM pickup truck 501 643 Jeep Cherokee 253 893 Jeep Compass 346 527 Chrysler 314 0% 145 0% 68 0% 15 0% 34 0% Brand Sales Share Sales Share Sales Share Sales Share Sales Share Fiat 505 121 18,1% 316 123 14,9% 190 129 11,3% 172 361 9,3% 183 369 8,7% Dodge 3 377 0,1% 2 012 0,1% 724 0% 495 0% 356 0% Jeep 3 311 0,1% 41 795 2% 59 055 3,5% 88 201 4,8% 106 953 5,1% Total FCA 512 123 18,3% 360 075 17% 249 986 14,8% 261 072 14,1% 290 712 13,8% Period 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 FCA brands’ auto sales in Brazil from 2014 to 2018 Source: Anfavea