ON THE TABLE - MARCH 12, 2014
Monday, March 10, 2014 at 04:07PM
FCA PR. Editor-in-Chief's Note: So last week, FCA PR minions led by Gualberto Ranieri trumpeted the fact that Sergio Marchionne was paid only $307,989 for running the Chrysler portion of FCA. This was calculated to portray The Great Sergio as someone approaching sainthood, basically willing to be paid next to nothing for leading the poor souls at Chrysler out of the wilderness, while the other two Detroit-based auto companies threw wheelbarrows full of money at their top executives. This week, of course, the rest of the story comes out. Marchionne was paid 3.6 million euros ($5 million) in cash last year by Fiat S.p.A., including bonus and incentives. Marchionne was also granted the right to receive 2.3 million Fiat shares, worth around $25 million at current rates. Marchionne was already holding 3 million Fiat shares at the end of 2013. Do auto executives deserve to be paid? Absolutely. But the annual FCA PR-orchestrated dance implying that Sergio is just scraping by while sacrificing everything for Chrysler is disingenuous at best. Oh, let's just call it for what it is: more Bush League Bullshit from the Italian overlords out in Auburn Hills. That means you, Gualberto. - PMD
(Images courtesy of Audi/newspressUSA)
The all-new 2015 A3 sedan will be available with the 170HP 1.8 TFSI® and the 220HP 2.0 TFSI® powertrains. The premium compact sedan "offers the latest in progressive technology at a competitive price, without compromising on luxury, design or performance," according to Audi PR. The base MSRP for the Audi A3 1.8 TFSI will start at $29,900 and the 2.0 TFSI® will start at $32,900.
The exterior of the A3 Sedan has been designed specifically to meet the sedan preferences of the American market. It is 175.5 inches long with a 103.4 inch wheelbase. It sits 55.7 inches high and is 70 inches wide. The A3 features Audi's signature Singleframe® grille and is available with full-LED headlights.
The Audi A3 Sedan has standard leather seating surfaces and an ultra-thin retractable MMI® display. It is available with Audi drive select, 4G LTE connectivity and Bang & Olufsen® audio. The A3 Sedan also comes standard with a panorama glass sunroof and bi-xenon headlights. The A3 sedan is also available with Premium plus and Prestige equipment packages.
Audi says that the new A3 platform allows the front wheels to move forward by roughly 1.5 inches (compared to the previous generation A3) to provide well-balanced proportions, supplemented by optimized interior space utilization, and an improved structure.The A3 Sedan will be joined later in 2014 by the recently announced Audi A3 Cabriolet, A3 TDI® clean diesel, the high-performance S3 Sedan and in early 2015, the A3 Sportback e-tron® gasoline electric hybrid (PHEV).
