Fiat Chrysler will HQ in London England.

[brizee]

The quicker this city divorces from one industry the better off it will be.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...uarters-London

[iheartthed]

Will there be a banner in London that reads "Imported from Detroit"?

[Hermod]

There are a lot of corporation wanting to base in Great Britain or Ireland for tax purposes. DC needs to get their collective heads out of their butts.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

There are a lot of corporation wanting to base in Great Britain or Ireland for tax purposes. DC needs to get their collective heads out of their butts.

Yes, because according to the GOP corporations are people - but people who shouldn't have to pay taxes.

[Hermod]

Yes, because according to the GOP corporations are people - but people who shouldn't have to pay taxes.

Water seeks its own level.

When you are in competition with other countries for business, you have to seek a level playing field.

If there were no tax advantages to going elsewhere, the companies would stay here and pay taxes at the US level.

Consider this:

At a tax rate of zero, the government collects zero taxes.
At a tax rate of 1%, they collect a given amount of taxes.
Raise that to 2% and they collect double what they do at 1%.
At a tax rate of 100%, they do not collect 100 times the money they do at 1%, they collect zero taxes at a tax rate of 100%.
Ergo, there is a curve which begins at zero at 0% rises to a peak and returns to zero at 100%.
At some point, the curve peaks yielding the maximum amount of taxes to the government. That is the "sweet spot".
If the purpose of taxation is to support the government, tax at the sweet spot.
If your purpose for taxation is to get revenge or to destroy, tax as high as you want, but get less money.

[Danny]

The Big Three is now become the Big Two. We already lost American Motors long ago.

[Danny]

Yes, because according to the GOP corporations are people - but people who shouldn't have to pay taxes.

They are people made of liquid money!

[canuck]

Hermod/Water seeks its own level.

I suppose any tax advantage they get in a London HQ will quickly be diluted with the perks and salaries for the suity set and whatnot in rental fees.

"This is captain Sergio Marchionne speaking. We are now circling London, at 17,000 ft altitude, it is a beautiful crisp morning today; we will be landing at Heathrow in approximately 15 minutes and are experiencing some delay due to particularly heavy traffic at the airport this morning. Welcome to the home of 17,000£ monthly mortgage fees."

[Danny]

Will there be a banner in London that reads "Imported from Detroit"?

It would say, F.C.A. imported from London.

[mtburb]

If Chrysler actually moves to London: industries will start leaving Auburn Hills; Great Lakes Crossing will eventually close permanently [[and so will all other nearby retailers), even the Pistons will give up and move into Ilitch's new Midtown arena.

[Hermod]

If Chrysler actually moves to London: industries will start leaving Auburn Hills; Great Lakes Crossing will eventually close permanently [[and so will all other nearby retailers), even the Pistons will give up and move into Ilitch's new Midtown arena.

The Auburn Hills folks will stay in place and still have jobs. This is the President/CEO and his inner circle who are "planting the flag" in London to avoid US and Italian taxes.

[davewindsor]

The Auburn Hills folks will stay in place and still have jobs. This is the President/CEO and his inner circle who are "planting the flag" in London to avoid US and Italian taxes.

I think it's more about London's prestige as a financial center than taxes. Their reputation is up there with Manhattan.

If it was just about taxes, it would make more sense for them to plant that flag in Bulgaria, where the corporate tax rate is half that of London and they have a flat personal income tax rate of 10%. Bulgaria is also a European Union member and NATO member and has universal medicare. If it was just about the lowest taxes, Bulgaria is the best deal in the EU.

[Bham1982]

I think it's more about London's prestige as a financial center than taxes. Their reputation is up there with Manhattan.

If it was just about taxes, it would make more sense for them to plant that flag in Bulgaria, where the corporate tax rate is half that of London and they have a flat personal income tax rate of 10%. Bulgaria is also a European Union member and NATO member and has universal medicare. If it was just about the lowest taxes, Bulgaria is the best deal in the EU.

Why would Chrysler move to Bulgaria? That makes no sense.

Every country has lower corporate taxes than the U.S. It makes sense to incorporate somewhere English-speaking, and with airport connections. But it has no real effect on staffing in Auburn Hills or anywhere else.

[davewindsor]

Why would Chrysler move to Bulgaria? That makes no sense.

Every country has lower corporate taxes than the U.S. It makes sense to incorporate somewhere English-speaking, and with airport connections. But it has no real effect on staffing in Auburn Hills or anywhere else.

Obviously you can't comprehend simple text. Like I said, if it was JUST about lower taxes, they would move to Bulgaria. BUT, it's more than being JUST about taxes. London has prestige as a financial center. Comparing London to Sophia, Bulgaria, in the financial world is like comparing Harvard University to a community college in the educational world. Community college is a lot cheaper, but it hasn't got the prestige like Harvard. It's just like the "prestige" of wearing a Rolex vs. a Timex or driving a Rolls Royce vs. a Ford Fiesta. Do you get what the word "prestige" means yet?? It's very prestigious to have your world HQ in London.

It wouldn't surprise me if just setting up their HQ in London is going to raise Fiat's Moody's rating that was downgraded to B1 a few months ago https://www.moodys.com/research/Mood...ook--PR_292371

BTW last I checked, Italy's main language isn't English either--it's Italian, yet Turin has been Fiat's world HQ for a long time. As well as Bulgaria being an EU member, they have airports.

[Dan Wesson]

Yeah it's not taxes alone causing the move. As mentioned before "The City of London", [[financial district) is the global place to be along with New York City.

Another reason is that in London the business regulations are more lax and less enforced than here in the states.

It's a move not unlike a lot of american corporations using Delaware as the state to incorporate in or shipping companies "flying the flag convenience" from Liberia.

Then again they could just be reading the hand writing on the wall.

The financial future is sliding eastward eventually ending up in the Far East.

[Khorasaurus]

I assume they will also keep the office/employees that work downtown at "Chrysler House?"

If they're not getting rid of anyone in Auburn Hills, I doubt they're getting rid of anyone in Detroit, but the article didn't mention it.

[Bham1982]

Obviously you can't comprehend simple text. Like I said, if it was JUST about lower taxes, they would move to Bulgaria.

I still don't understand your point. Obviously no corporate decision is JUST about one factor, and plenty of places have even lower corporate taxes and costs.

BUT, it's more than being JUST about taxes. London has prestige as a financial center.

What does "prestige as a financial center" have to do about incorporation decisions? Nothing, because incorporation decisions are about legal domicile, not staffing. Auto companies don't have that many corporate finance guys, anyways, and if this drove locational decision making, the Big 3 would have always been in NYC.

Do you get what the word "prestige" means yet?? It's very prestigious to have your world HQ in London.

No, it isn't. If anything, companies try and avoid association with high cost cities. Makes the accountants very nervous, and contradict corporate messaging. That's [[in part) why Alcoa is officially HQ in Pittsburgh and MacysCorp in Cincy, even though the executive offices are in NYC. It's [[in part) why some of the biggest companies on earth are in nothing locations.

The most valuable U.S. companies, in order, are HQ in the
following cities-

Cupertino, CA [[Apple)
Irving, TX [[Exxon Mobil)
Omaha, NE [[Berkshire Hathaway)
Bentonville [[WalMart)
Fairfield, CT [[GE)
Armonk, NY [[IBM)
Redmond, WA [[Microsoft)
San Ramon, CA [[Chevron)

The most valuable European company, Nestle, is HQ in Vevey, Switzerland.

BTW last I checked, Italy's main language isn't English either--it's Italian, yet Turin has been Fiat's world HQ for a long time. As well as Bulgaria being an EU member, they have airports.

Thanks for the irrelevant anecdotes. Wow, who knew there were corporate HQ in non-English speaking nations? Who knew there were airports in Eastern Europe?

[iheartthed]

I still don't understand your point. Obviously no corporate decision is JUST about one factor, and plenty of places have even lower corporate taxes and costs.

What does "prestige as a financial center" have to do about incorporation decisions? Nothing, because incorporation decisions are about legal domicile, not staffing. Auto companies don't have that many corporate finance guys, anyways, and if this drove locational decision making, the Big 3 would have always been in NYC.

No, it isn't. If anything, companies try and avoid association with high cost cities. Makes the accountants very nervous, and contradict corporate messaging. That's [[in part) why Alcoa is officially HQ in Pittsburgh and MacysCorp in Cincy, even though the executive offices are in NYC. It's [[in part) why some of the biggest companies on earth are in nothing locations.

The most valuable U.S. companies, in order, are HQ in the
following cities-

Cupertino, CA [[Apple)
Irving, TX [[Exxon Mobil)
Omaha, NE [[Berkshire Hathaway)
Bentonville [[WalMart)
Fairfield, CT [[GE)
Armonk, NY [[IBM)
Redmond, WA [[Microsoft)
San Ramon, CA [[Chevron)

The most valuable European company, Nestle, is HQ in Vevey, Switzerland.



Thanks for the irrelevant anecdotes. Wow, who knew there were corporate HQ in non-English speaking nations? Who knew there were airports in Eastern Europe?

With the exception of GE, those companies are all located in the vicinity of where they were founded. FCA is an unusual situation because they opted not to locate the headquarters in the home country of either company that had been merged. Off the top of my head I can't think of any example of that involving an American based company.

[douglasm]

I get the impression the grumblings are a little like what hit Seattle when Boeing moved it's HQ to Chicago.

[davewindsor]

I still don't understand your point. Obviously no corporate decision is JUST about one factor, and plenty of places have even lower corporate taxes and costs.

Of course, you'll never understand. I don't know if you're doing it on purpose or maybe it's just you. But, then again, the following sentence makes me wonder if you understand it a little. No, I don't think so or you wouldn't have just said that.

Let's go over this again.

1) Hermod said the move to London is about, "...the President/CEO and his inner circle who are "planting the flag" in London to avoid US and Italian taxes."

2) I responded it's not just about taxes. There's also a prestige factor with moving to London. If it was just about taxes, it would make more sense to move to Bulgaria, which is also a European Union member. Why would anybody want to move to London to cut costs when real estate prices are as high as Manhattan prices?? Because it's not just about cutting taxes.

3) You respond to me that it makes no sense to move to Bulgaria. No sh-t Sherlock. I made the same point. Hermod said they're moving to another country to pay less tax; I said there's more to it than that like "prestige" otherwise they would just move to Bulgaria. What part of this are you not getting?

What does "prestige as a financial center" have to do about incorporation decisions? Nothing, because incorporation decisions are about legal domicile, not staffing. Auto companies don't have that many corporate finance guys, anyways, and if this drove locational decision making, the Big 3 would have always been in NYC.

Again, no sh-t Sherlock. Did I say their entire head office is moving down there? No, as Hermod said, it's the CEO and his inner circle that moving down there.

And prestige has everything to do with it. But, it's absolutely hopeless to continue explaining to you what prestige is because it keeps going in one ear and out the other with you.

Oh and please tell me why it's not important for an auto company to have a lot of corporate finance guys when they offer inhouse financing and leasing on cars, fleets and need to raise billions of dollars for retooling their plants??

No, it isn't. If anything, companies try and avoid association with high cost cities. Makes the accountants very nervous, and contradict corporate messaging.

Ridiculous. I didn't know you ran one of the big accounting firms. What qualifies you to make such a bold statement??

Also, please explain to me why so many corporate HQs are in Manhattan and London and why the real estate prices are so high down there? Like it was stated earlier, it's not the whole company that's moving down there, just the corporate heads.

That's [[in part) why Alcoa is officially HQ in Pittsburgh and MacysCorp in Cincy, even though the executive offices are in NYC. It's [[in part) why some of the biggest companies on earth are in nothing locations.

The most valuable U.S. companies, in order, are HQ in the
following cities-

Cupertino, CA [[Apple)
Irving, TX [[Exxon Mobil)
Omaha, NE [[Berkshire Hathaway)
Bentonville [[WalMart)
Fairfield, CT [[GE)
Armonk, NY [[IBM)
Redmond, WA [[Microsoft)
San Ramon, CA [[Chevron)

The most valuable European company, Nestle, is HQ in Vevey, Switzerland.

Usually companies HQ'd outside of financial centers are located in the cities they were founded. I tried pulling up a list of corporate HQs located in London and pasting it here, but the list is so long that the system will not let me paste and save it in this post.

Thanks for the irrelevant anecdotes. Wow, who knew there were corporate HQ in non-English speaking nations? Who knew there were airports in Eastern Europe?

Ya, thanks for the irrelevant arguments and responses. As for the rest, you were the one who said Fiat-Chrysler needs to be in an English speaking country.

[AuburnSpeedster]

The point is that its not where the real operations will occur. That will stay where it has been. So focus on what matters, the workers will still work in Michigan.

[Dan Wesson]

The point is that its not where the real operations will occur. That will stay where it has been. So focus on what matters, the workers will still work in Michigan.

Recent past experience shows that; yes, the workers stay in Michigan but the shop and machinery don't.

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

No surprise that a European company wants a European HQ.

[douglasm]

Hey guys, we're talking about the corporate offices here, not manufacturing or research facilities.

And, it should be noted that FCA [[the holding company that owns both Fiat and Chrysler) is NOT headquartered in Milan or Detroit, but currently has it's home offices in Amsterdam and will be moving from there to London.

[Cliffy]

Yes, because according to the GOP corporations are people - but people who shouldn't have to pay taxes.

Seriously. Thats why this country is going to shit. Nobody wants to pay taxes. No pride. Nothing. People will sell their own mother to save a dime in this country.