The move shifts the carmaker's center of gravity away from Italy and caps a decade of canny dealmaking and tough restructuring by CEO Sergio Marchionne.

This isn't an IPO but rather a stock-exchange listing to accompany an official merger of Fiat and Chrysler — a merger that set in motion in 2009, when Fiat took over Chrysler after the smallest of the Big Three automaker was bailed out by the federal government and fell into bankruptcy.

The world's seventh-largest auto group has sought the U.S. listing to help to establish itself as a leading global player through access to the world's biggest equity market and the cheaper, more reliable source of funding it ultimately offers. Marchionne has also told news outlets that the company chose Columbus Day to commence trading on the NYSE due to the historic connection between the U.S. and Italy represented by the famous explorer.