If that works out as planned, the auto maker expects to double operating profit to €16 billion ($18.71 billion) by 2022 and hit double-digit profit margins from 6.8% today. Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said the company will invest €9 billion to develop and deploy electric engines as it expands its lineup of electric-powered vehicles, part of a €45 billion spending plan over the next five years focused on four core brands: Jeep SUVs, Ram pickups and Alfa Romeo and Maserati luxury cars. "This plan will provide the portfolio of products aligned with our brands that will ensure our ability to comply in each region" with stricter emissions and fuel-economy standards, Mr. Marchionne told financial analysts and media at a meeting on a company test track located outside Milan. In the U.S., the company is expanding its bet on bigger SUVs and trucks, reflecting consumer demand and a more relaxed approach to increasing fuel economy standards in Washington. Mr. Marchionne chided his peers for appearing to back away from what he said was a unified request to President Donald Trump by auto industry leaders to ease fuel economy regulations.

Fiat Chrysler's Ram also got big updates, losing more than 200 pounds and giving it a gas-electric hybrid engine option. Both the Silverado and Ram were given more athletic stances and meaner looks. Ford added a diesel engine to its F-150 and rolled out the midsize Ranger. Automakers turn big profits on large pickups. Sales rose nearly 6 percent last year to almost 2.4 million, even though total U.S. auto sales dropped 2 percent.

SAN FRANCISCO – Google on Thursday had a fresh U.S. patent for a sticky coating that could be applied to self-driving cars so pedestrians stick instead of bouncing off when hit. The patent describes a layer of adhesive on a car's hood, front bumper and possibly front side panels sealed with a coating that, when broken, would expose a gluey surface akin to flypaper modified to catch humans. "Upon impact with a pedestrian, the coating is broken exposing the adhesive layer," read patent paperwork dated May 17 and listing the applicant as Google. "The adhesive bonds the pedestrian to the vehicle so that the pedestrian remains with the vehicle until it stops, and is not thrown from the vehicle, thereby preventing a secondary impact between the pedestrian and the road surface or other object." Google reasoned in the patent application that pedestrians hit by cars typically suffer further injury by being knocked or hurled to the pavement or other objects.

Detroit automakers that viewed Silicon Valley as a "serious threat" just a few years ago are now jumping into deals, acquisitions and investments with West Coast tech companies, describing some of the partnerships as "getting married." The new relationships promise to bring the tech and automotive industries closer as they rush to develop self-driving cars, ride-sharing partnerships and to take advantage of other cutting-edge technology. The change from potential adversaries to partnerships illustrates a growing awareness that neither industry is likely to conquer the other anytime soon and that they need each other to evolve at the speed necessary to remain competitive. But like any successful marriage, the two parties must recognize their differences and figure out how to work more closely together, said Xavier Mosquet, a Detroit-based senior partner in the automotive practice of the Boston Consulting Group. These are industries that move at vastly different paces, operate in entirely different regulatory environments and come from different corporate cultures, he pointed out.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles FCAU 0.92 % NV Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said Friday he is open to deepening a new partnership with Alphabet Inc. GOOGL 1.46 % 's Google autonomous-car team, but said it is unclear if the Silicon Valley tech giant is willing to forge stronger ties. Mr. Marchionne, speaking at factory in Canada, said Fiat Chrysler is seeking collaborations with tech companies instead of independently funding significant bets on projects that might not pan out. "We are exploring with people who are willing to explore with us," he said, referring to deepening ties to the point of codeveloping new, autonomous vehicles from the wheels up. The company has said in the past it wants to partner with many auto makers. Fiat Chrysler earlier this week said it would supply dozens of Chrysler Pacifica minivans to Google, and the two companies will collaborate on integrating self-driving technology so the vehicles can be tested on public roads.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Alphabet Inc.'s Google have yet to determine who will own data collected in their collaboration on testing self-driving vehicles, FCA Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said Friday. "That's exactly what has to be determined," Marchionne said in response to a reporter's question on data ownership. "We need to get to a stage where the car is viable so we can discuss the spoils of that work. Earlier this week, FCA and Google announced they agreed to fit Google's self-driving technology into 100 Chrysler Pacifica minivans, marking the first time a Silicon Valley firm has teamed up with a traditional carmaker to develop an autonomous vehicle. Marchionne said there are many aspects of the project with Google that have yet to be determined, such as whether the two will develop an open-source software platform that could be shared with others. Marchionne said that what has been agreed so far with Google is limited, but he suggested that the alliance could evolve. "The objective of this first phase of our collaboration is very targeted," Marchionne said at a news conference at FCA's Windsor plant. "It's designed to take Google technology into the minivan.

Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne says self-driving cars could be on the road in five years. Marchionne says he's more optimistic about autonomous technology since FCA starting working with Google on self-driving cars. FCA and Google announced a partnership earlier this week. The companies will work together to add self-driving technology to 100 Chrysler Pacifica minivans for testing purposes. This is the first time Google has worked directly with an auto company to install self-driving sensors and computers.

Chrysler engineers will be modifying 100 2017 Pacifica Hybrid minivans for Google, which will install its self-driving tech and put the car on roads for further autonomous vehicle testing. A self-driving Lexus SUV owned by Google's parent company Alphabet struck a bus February 14 while it was testing on the streets of Mountain View, Calif. SAN FRANCISCO – Google will collaborate with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to put its self-driving car technology into 100 Pacifica minivans, the CEOs of both companies told USA TODAY. The vehicles will be used to turbocharge Google's seven-year-old autonomous car program. For Fiat Chrysler, the agreement provides a technological crash course in what it takes to transform a standard vehicle into an autonomous one.

Google and Fiat Chrysler engineers will work together to fit Google's autonomous driving technology into the Pacifica minivan. Some engineers for both companies will work together at a facility in Southeast Michigan, where Fiat Chrysler has its major North American engineering centre, the companies said. Google said it is not sharing proprietary self-driving vehicle technology with Fiat Chrysler, however, and the vehicles will not be offered for sale to the public. The agreement between Google and Fiat Chrysler comes as rival technology and auto companies are accelerating efforts to master the complex hardware and artificial intelligence systems required to allow vehicles to pilot themselves. General Motors Co in March agreed to acquire San Francisco self-driving car startup Cruise Automation .

Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV agreed to incorporate Alphabet's self-driving technology into 100 Chrysler minivans, significantly expanding the tech giant's test fleet of driverless vehicles and marking its first partnership with a major auto maker. Alphabet and Fiat Chrysler engineers will collaborate in Michigan to redesign the 2017 Pacifica Hybrid minivan to integrate Alphabet's computers, sensors and software, the companies said. The minivans, like Alphabet's other self-driving cars, will be solely for testing. Alphabet aims to have the first driverless minivans on the road by year's end but declined to provide a timeline for all 100 vehicles. By expanding the test fleet, the agreement will help Alphabet's quest to automate the world's vehicles.