Elio Motors, Inc. has announced it plans to sell 100 pre-production vehicles before full scale production.

Vehicles are Key Step To Refining Final Consumer Production Projected to Begin in 2017

Elio Motors, Inc. (OTCQX: ELIO), the startup vehicle manufacturer planning to launch a three-wheeled vehicle that will get up to 84 MPG with a targeted base price of $6,800, today announced it plans to sell 100 pre-production vehicles built at its Shreveport, Louisiana, production facility fourth quarter of 2016.

"Elio Motors is ecstatic to announce that we are taking a major step forward in our development of the Elio," said Elio Motors founder and CEO Paul Elio. "We now intend to sell the first 100 pre-production vehicles built to one or more fleet customers, rather than use them for internal purposes as previously disclosed in our offering statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This will help us generate additional revenue, it will allow us to evaluate vehicles under real-world driving conditions and it will allow our supplier team to refine our design." 

This limited run of pre-production vehicles will be a major step forward for Elio Motors as it works toward mass production. The pre-production vehicles will allow Roush, which was named lead engineering partner earlier this week, to provide a quieter, smoother vehicle with refined driving characteristics. Ultimately, this will raise customer satisfaction with the final production vehicle.  

"We are chomping at the bit to get started on these 100 vehicles, as it's an important step in our evolution,"said Gino Raffin, vice president of manufacturing for Elio Motors. "The work we do on these vehicles will provide important insight that will make for a smooth transition when we begin hiring production workers for the consumer vehicle launch. We're getting closer every day and we are moving forward with relentless passion to get this done."

Although the fleet vehicle build is a step in the right direction for the end consumer driving experience, the bulk of the consumer launch will have to be moved into 2017 at a date to be determined, as the company continues to seek additional funding.

"As we have stated in the past, building an ultra-low cost, high efficient vehicle for the masses is not an easy task. It takes solid engineering and supplier partnerships, which we have, and substantial funding, on which we continue to make progress," Elio said. "We recently had a successful stock offering, which showed there is investment interest and enthusiasm for this project. We raised significant funds, moving us even closer. Our team will keep fighting to get this done. The key is to not quit, and to continue to move forward toward our goal. We have a number of other financial strategies that we are pursuing relentlessly to help get us to our consumer production launch."

In addition to bringing Roush on board and announcing the pre-production-vehicle build, Elio Motors has been aggressive in pushing toward production of its Elio vehicle in other areas:

• In November 2015, the company introduced the P5, its fifth generation prototype, featuring a 0.9 liter, 3-cylinder engine designed by IAV specifically for Elio Motors.
• On Jan. 12, Elio Motors announced it will begin building its E-Series of prototype vehicles for testing and engineering purposes.
• On Feb. 12, Elio Motors reached 50,000 reservations for a place in line to buy the vehicle. 
• On Feb. 19, Elio Motors became the first organization to raise capital using Regulation A+ and then have its shares publicly traded on the OTCQX Best Market (OTCQX:ELIO). 

Elio Motors is using nearly 1 million square feet of a nearly 4 million square-foot former General Motors production facility. When Elio Motors reaches full production, it estimates that the Shreveport facility will have nearly 1,500 workers.

Ferrari considering moving its Fiscal residance outside of Italy as it prepares for sell off

Ferrari is considering moving its fiscal residence outside Italy to save on corporate taxes as the supercar maker prepares for its spinoff from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, people familiar with the matter said.

The carmaker, which uses the colors of the Italian flag in its logo, may follow in the footsteps of Fiat Chrysler, which is registered in the Netherlands, listed on the New York Stock Exchange and based in London for tax reasons, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.

Other options including keeping its Italian residence are still on the table, and a shift in its fiscal residency wouldn't affect its manufacturing and engineering operations in Maranello, about 190 kilometers (118 miles) south of Milan, the people said. A final decision will be made in coming months, the people added.

Fiat Chrysler declined to comment.

Ferrari shifting its corporate headquarters outside Italy would represent a symbolic blow for the country, which is struggling to end a cycle of recessions. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is attempting to push through labor and tax reforms to make the Italian economy more competitive. Those efforts have already come too late for Fiat Chrysler and CNH Industrial NV, the truck and tractor maker spun off from Fiat in 2011. Both companies have already moved their headquarters to the UK from Italy.

Cutting debt

The move to spin off Ferrari is part of Fiat Chrysler's efforts to raise about $5 billion to cut debt. CEO Sergio Marchionne is meeting investors in the U.S. this week as Fiat Chrysler prepares to sell at least 87 million shares and a $2.5 billion mandatory convertible bond. The financing, which is backed by distributing 80 percent of Ferrari stock to Fiat Chrysler investors, will boost cash by $3.7 billion, Fiat said in a filing last week.

Fiat Chrysler and CNH will benefit from the UK's corporate tax rate declining to 20 percent next year from 21 percent. Income from patents will eventually be as low as 10 percent, offering potential for additional relief. By comparison, Italy's corporate rate is 31.4 percent. The country is ranked 56th in the World Bank's Doing business ranking, just after Turkey and Hungary. The UK is 8th.

Hampered by stifling policies, the Italian economy has stagnated over the past 14 years and contracted 10 of the last 11 quarters. Unemployment rates are near record levels, and thousands of Italians have left the country in search of a better future. Last year, the number of emigrants from Italy rose 19 percent to 126,000, according to statistics agency Istat.

Ferrari listing

Fiat Chrysler plans to list 10 percent of Ferrari by the third quarter of next year. The carmaker will trade in the U.S. and possibly a European stock exchange, according to the company. Milan is being considered as the secondary listing, with New York the main market, the people said.

London-based Fiat Chrysler hasn't commented on Ferrari's fiscal residence, but Marchionne, who is also Ferrari's chairman, insists the company's roots will remain tied to its traditional home regardless of financial decisions.

Ferrari "is Italian as it has always been," Marchionne said last month at a Fiat event at a test track in Balocco, Italy. "Capital markets are capital markets."

Ferrari to mull over loyalty scheme for existing shareholders once the sell off begins.

A loyalty scheme that would increase the voting power of Ferrari shareholders is one option parent Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will consider when it spins off the luxury marque next year, Chairman John Elkann said.

Fiat introduced such a scheme when it merged into Dutch-registered FCA this year, rewarding its own long-term investors and mainly benefiting controlling shareholder Exor, the holding company of the Agnelli family that founded Fiat.

"There are many options today and this is one of them," Elkann told journalists on the sidelines of an event in Milan on Friday.

FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne said last month that he would spin off Ferrari, sell a 10 percent stake via a public offering and distribute the rest of FCA's stake in the supercar brand to its shareholders.

As a consequence, the Agnelli family will emerge as the largest shareholder in Ferrari after the spinoff. A loyalty scheme could tighten the Agnellis' grip further and increase their influence on Ferrari's future strategy.

The spinoff announcement rekindled speculation that the Agnelli family may want to form a pool of luxury brands around Ferrari, including other opulent Italian names from outside the automotive sector, to rival groups such as France's Kering and LVMH.

Marchionne said last month that carmaking is "almost incidental" to Ferrari, which he sees more as a luxury stock.

But Elkann, a scion of the Agnelli family who also heads Exor, dismissed the idea of a luxury conglomerate, saying that Exor's plan is to give Ferrari the chance to develop its own growth strategy

REPORT HERE

FCA - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has no plans to replace current Ferrari CEO.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has no plans at this stage to replace Amedeo Felisa as CEO of Ferrari, which it is preparing to spin off, FCA Chairman John Elkann said today.

"There will be no CEO change," he said in answer to a question on whether Felisa would be replaced in the coming months.

Amedeo has been CEO of the Ferrari unit since 2008.

FCA plans to spin off Ferrari from the group, sell a 10 percent stake via a public offering and distribute the rest of FCA's stake to its shareholders.

Elkann also said that the introduction of a loyalty share scheme at Ferrari was just one among several options being considered.

REPORT HERE

GM to make OPEL auction off plant and machinery from its Bochum factory, once closed.

General Motors' Opel unit next month will auction tooling from its plant in Bochum, Germany.

GM is shutting the factory to reduce its excess capacity in Europe and help return its operations in the region back to profit.

Bochum will make its last vehicle on Dec. 12, according Maynards, the auction company charged with selling off the factory’s tooling.

Bochum’s equipment will be auctioned on Nov. 20 ahead of the shutdown, Andreas Matuszczak, Maynards’ European managing director, told Automotive News Europe.

The plant's 50 presses, some dating back more than 50 years, will be sold along with 80 percent of the robots in the body shop, Matuszczak said.

The Canada-based auction house also listed on its sale inventory a complete fire station with vehicles, a cafeteria and a health care ward.

The assembly line is not included in the sale. It will be moved to other Opel plants.

Matuszczak declined to put a value on the equipment.

Matuszczak said that all the presses had been bought new for the plant and ranged from 800 metric tons to 5,000 metric tons.

Buyers were likely to be from eastern Europe, Turkey, India or Thailand, he said.

Opel currently builds the Zafira Tourer and Zafira Classic minivans at the plant, which opened in 1962.

Production of the Zafira Classic will stop altogether, while output of the newer and larger Zafira Tourer has already been moved to Opel’s factory in Russelsheim, near Frankfurt.

The Bochum factory was built on old coal pits in the industrial Ruhr valley and was the largest construction site in Europe at the time of its opening more than 50 years ago, according to Opel. The first car built in the factory was the Opel Kadett.

Opel spent 1.7 billion euros ($2.2 billion) restructuring the plant between 1995 and1999.

The factory employed 3,280 people, according to Opel’s website.

European automakers are closing plants and cutting their work forces as the region’s six-year downturn hits car sales. Ford is closing its factory in Genk, Belgium, this year while PSA/Peugeot Citroen has shut down its plant at Aulnay, near Paris.

Nick Gibbs

REPORT HERE