Auto News For Tuesday, June 9, 2015 - FCA Desires GM Merger

Here are the six must-read, must-watch auto news stories, reviews, and videos for Tuesday, June 9, 2015.

INSIDE THE AUTO INDUSTRY
The Wall Street Journal reports that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ CEO is trying even harder to merge with GM. Sergio Marchionne has been in touch with investors who, in Sergio’s mind, ought to persuade GM to merge with FCA. It’s only been a decade since GM paid Fiat $2 billion to not merge. 

TTAC
Jeep reported an all-time monthly U.S. sales record in May 2015. Sure, new product (Renegade) helped the brand along. But even without the Renegade, May would still have been the best-ever month for FCA’s most popular brand. 

REVIEW
GCBC will soon be publishing our review of the Mercedes-Benz GLA250 4Matic. But there’s another CLA offshoot with a tailgate; only you can’t have it in North America. Here’s CAR’s review of the Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake, by the one and only Anthony ffrench-Constant. 

RECALL
No recalls since the flurry of activity we covered yesterday. 

JALOPNIK
Propelled along by products that didn’t exist at this time a year ago – HR-V, Trax, Renegade, 500X – the compact crossover category posted a 95% U.S. sales improvement in May 2015. But there’s more new product yet to come, and many of the established nameplates reported meaningful improvements despite the newer competition, too. 

WATCH
Continuing on yesterday’s tennis theme, Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show set the 2015 French Open grunts to music. It’s worth a watch.