Fiat Chrysler CEO Repeats Call For Industry Consolidation

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE: FCAU) shares slipped 4 percent a day after the company missed earnings expectations and its chief executive renewed his calls for industry consolidation.

Shares of the company changed hands recently at $14.65, off 4.6 percent.

Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne presented analysts with a presentation Wednesday that called auto industry consolidation the "key" to what Marchionne believes are unsustainable capital requirements for the industry.

"This is not about putting Fiat Chrysler up for sale, or an excuse for our current ranking in the food chain," Marchionne said.

But analysts were skeptical.

"He's looking to force a marriage for FCA," Evercore ISI analyst Arndt Ellinghorst told Reuters Thursday.

Fiat Chrysler is open to a combination with General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) or Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), Marchionne told Bloomberg in March.

But representatives of Ford and GM told Bloomberg at the time they are "focused on their own businesses."

"One of the most difficult things to do is to get the turkey to invite himself to Thanksgiving dinner," Marchionne said earlier this month.