According to a new report by the New York Times, General Motors Company GM 0.82% rejected a merger proposal from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE: FCAU) CEO Sergio Marchionne back in March.

Machionne reportedly emailed GM CEO Mary Barra to suggest the merger, but the proposal apparently fell on deaf ears.

Auto Consolidation

Marchionne has been extremely vocal in recent months on the need for auto industry consolidation. In a recent presentation to analysts, Marchionne argued that combining forces could be the key to auto makers navigating the current capital requirements of 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, adding that Fiat Chrysler would be open to a merger with either GM or Ford Motor Co F 0.86%.

Email Plea

According to the New York Times, Marchionne’s March email touted the opportunity…

Read the rest of this article (and all my other articles) for free on Benzinga by clicking here

Want to learn more about how to profit off the stock market? Or maybe you just want to be able to look sophisticated in front of your coworkers when they ask you what you are reading on your Kindle, and you’d prefer to tell them “Oh, I’m just reading a book about stock market analysis,” rather than the usual “Oh, I’m just looking at pics of my ex-girlfriend on Facebook.” For these reasons and more, check out my book, Beating Wall Street with Common Sense. I don’t have a degree in finance; I have a degree in neuroscience. You don’t have to predict what stocks will do if you can predict what traders will do and be one step ahead of them. I made a 400% return in the stock market over five years using only basic principles of psychology and common sense. Beating Wall Street with Common Sense is now available on Amazon, and tradingcommonsense.com is always available on your local internet!