Explained: The road to Fiat Chrysler, Renault merger talks

The alliance between Fiat Chrysler and Renault could become the world's No.1 carmaker with 13.8 million in annual sales. It would also maintain a foothold in China, where both Fiat Chrysler and Renault are marginal players.

American-Italian carmaker Fiat Chrysler has made an all share merger proposal to French rival Renault as part of a new wave of auto industry consolidation. Together they would have a combined market capitalisation of more than 32 billion euros ($36 billion) and total global sales of 8.7 million vehicles. By comparison, Volkswagen Group , delivered 10.9 million vehicles in 2018.