READING 2

Vocabulary 1
Complete the definitions below with the words from the box.

feat fleet laggard loan

margin nameplate suite

1. A _________ is a set of products that go together with each other.

2. A _________ is a group of vehicles that is managed or owned by one company.

3. A _______ is the difference between the cost of buying or producing a product and the price it is sold for,

usually expressed as a percentage.

4. A _________ is the label that identifies a particular brand of car.

5. A _________ is an achievement that requires plenty of courage, ability or strength.

6. A _________ is a person or company who is not as fast or efficient as other people or companies.

7. A _________ is money that is borrowed from a bank or person.

Vocabulary 2
Match the two halves of the sentences below so they define the expressions in italics.

1. A company’s operating margins measure …

2. A company’s adjusted profits are …
3. An automobile company’s namesake marques are …
4. A company with a debt mountain owes …
5. Autonomous technology is …
6. Passenger vehicles are …
7. Emissions targets are …
8. The price points of a particular product are …
9. A financing service allows …

a. … the brand names it owns that include its company name.

b. … a very large amount of money to banks and other people.
c. … the science that allows cars to be driven without human help.
d. … cars, buses and other forms of transport designed for carrying people.
e. … people to buy things with many smaller payments over a period of time.
f. … its income after taking away the cost of its goods sold and its operating expenses.
g. … the suggested prices which will enable it to compete with other products in the same market.
h. … the best estimate of its true profits after all costs and taxes etc. have been taken into account.
i. … maximum amounts of pollutants, such as CO2 or diesel fumes, set by governments that can be

released into the atmosphere from a car or other vehicle.

Reading comprehension 1
Replace the words or expressions in italics in the sentences below with words or expressions from the box
so the meaning of the sentences stays the same.

aiming for considered devised embrace

eradicated phase out plans reshuffle

1. Fiat Chrysler has set out ambitious plans to nearly triple profits, push into electric vehicles and

rearrange the focus of some of its major brands.

2. By 2022, it intends to more than double operating margins, invest €9bn into a suite of new electric

models, and move into financing self-driving car fleets.

3. FCA is targeting adjusted profits of up to €16bn by 2022.

4. The company also announced it has eliminated its debt mountain, a feat that was previously thought to

be close to impossible when it stated its previous plan in 2014.

5. The company has been a laggard on both electric and autonomous technology, under a strategy

created by the CEO Sergio Marchionne to avoid spending money in unnecessary areas.

6. The group’s decision to slowly remove diesel from all of its passenger vehicles requires it to accept and

work with electric technology in order to meet stringent EU CO2 emissions targets.

Now check your answers by reading the article!!!!!

Fiat Chrysler aims to triple profits in changing industry

1
Fiat Chrysler has laid out ambitious plans to nearly triple profits, push into electric vehicles and
reshuffle the focus of some of its major brands, as the Italian-American carmaker seeks to safeguard
its future in a changing industry.
2
By 2022, it plans to more than double operating margins, invest €9bn into a suite of new electric
models, and move into financing self-driving car fleets in an effort to position itself to profit from the
wave of new technologies sweeping the global sector.
3
FCA is aiming for adjusted profits of up to €16bn by 2022, compared with €6.6bn last year, with
margins of up to 11 per cent, compared with 6.3 per cent last year.
4
The group, which also owns the Jeep, Ram, Dodge, Maserati and Alfa Romeo nameplates on
top of its namesake marques, outlined a shift in focus of some of its brands.
5
The company also announced it has eradicated its debt mountain, a feat that was previously
considered close to unattainable when it stated its previous plan in 2014.
6
Sergio Marchionne, the chief executive who steered the business for 14 years and retires next April,
arrived at the session at the Italian racing circuit of Balocco wearing a tie, which he said would only
happen if the business wiped out the debt pile that has crippled the business for years. “Emerging from
the shadow of debt represents a fundamental change in how the company is perceived,” he said.
7
The company has been a laggard on both electric and autonomous technology, under a strategy
devised by Mr Marchionne to avoid spending money in unnecessary areas. But it will launch 30 new
battery-powered or hybrid models by 2022 in order to meet increasingly tight emissions rules across
Europe and the world.
8
The group’s decision to phase out diesel from all of its passenger vehicles requires it to embrace
electric technology in order to meet stringent EU CO2 emissions targets. In Europe, it aims to make
60 per cent of its cars hybrid or fully electric by 2022, although the “vast majority” will still contain
traditional engines, Mr Marchionne said.
9
A third of the cars sold by its luxury Maserati brand will contain electric technology by the middle of
the next decade, while every Jeep model will come with “a range of electrified options,” something that
is likely to push up their price points even more to cover the costs of the technology, brand chief Mike
Manley said.
10
FCA will also launch its own US financing service to offer car loans to customers, something it
currently does through Santander Consumer.

Vocabulary 2
Find words or expressions in the article that mean:

(paragraph
1. ensure 1)
(paragraph
2. affecting and changing 2)
(paragraph
3. intending to achieve 3)
(paragraph
4. gave a general description of 4)
(paragraph
5. caused a lot of damage to 6)
(paragraph
6. coming out of 6)
(paragraph
7. strict and inflexible 7)
(paragraph
8. choices 9)