Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne wants Italy's largest industrial group to separate Fiat Auto from its other divisions, join them with Opel/ Vauxhall, Saab, and GM's other European operations, as well as Fiat's stake in Chrysler, to create a publicly traded company that would be second only to Toyota in revenues and sales and roughly the size of Volkswagen, report John Reed and Paul Betts. "From an engineering and industrial point of view, this is a marriage made in heaven," Marchionne says. He is scheduled to present his plan to German government leaders Monday afternoon in Berlin. Fiat's move could …

While no one expects Americans to turn into a nation of fuel-sipping pragmatists, we are turning more to the European model of buying smaller cars and holding on to them longer -- a trend that analysts believe is here to stay, Jerry Hirsch reports. And the automakers know it. "Our entire business plan is constructed around the idea of being a profitable enterprise at a lower industry sales volume and a change in the mix of what's sold," says George Pipas, Ford's sales analyst. Tighter credit, depleted retirement savings and environmental concerns are among the forces …

Dell and Hewlett-Packard are going head-to-head in an effort to offer lucrative management services, along with their hardware, to small and midsize businesses (SMBs). The model is similar to what IBM does for large companies, Byron Acohido reports. Each company is offering special lines of PCs, backed by zero-percent financing, for SMBs. And each has launched Web sites and blogs with guidance on everything from how to get started to how to connect with clients. "It's a shift from a transactions model to a relationship model," says Stephen DeWitt, HP's senior vice president of its personal systems group. …

Wal-Mart is offering businesses low-priced drugs if they sign up to buy directly from its network of in-store pharmacies, rather than contracting to buy drugs through third parties known as pharmacy-benefit managers (PBMs), Ann Zimmerman and Amy Merrick report. The program expands on a pilot it undertook with Caterpillar last year. The retailer will not say if it has already signed other clients. Todd Bisping, who manages Caterpillar's drug-benefits program, says the company was able to reduce its drug costs enough that it waived copayments on generic prescriptions bought from Wal-Mart. "This is a game changer," says Adam …

The best advertisement David Ogilvy ever wrote may have been a house ad titled "How to Run an Advertising Agency," writes Ken Roman, the former chairman and CEO of Ogilvy & Mather, in an excerpt from "The King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy and the Making of Modern Advertising." The "principles of management" that he wrote out for Ogilvy & Mather staff in 1968 apply more broadly than to advertising agencies. But it wasn't just what Ogilvy said about running a business that was special, Roman writes, it was how he said it. …

While the Detroit newspapers are filled with stories of gloom this morning ("Bankruptcy Slams Michigan," blares the lead story of the Detroit Free Press's extensive coverage),  Tiffany Hsu finds that Chrysler dealers in the Los Angeles area see a silver lining in the automaker's Chapter 11 filing Thursday. The bottom line is that they hope that the government's show of faith in Chrysler compels consumers to buy more American cars. Jim Buerge, owner of Buerge Chrysler Jeep in West Los Angeles, has seen sales volume slide 50% since August but says he's reassured that the business is …

Revlon is launching a new mascara franchise, Revlon DoubleTwist, at food, drug and mass chains this month, Gillian Koenig reports. It features a 2-in-1 brush that combines traditional bristles with a molded brush that's designed to thicken and "volumize" lashes. It will sell for $8.99. Jessica Alba will be the face of the new line in a print and TV campaign. "There's always room for a new mascara," says consultant Allan Mottus. "[This] is not like the vibrating ones from Lanc"me and some of the other brands, but the pricing is right and Revlon is pretty product savvy …