Fiat SpA chairman Umberto Agnelli said on Friday that he didn’t want “to hear or comment on” press reports that the Italian car maker will soon pick Herbert Demel to head its auto unit, news agency Radiocor reported, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
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“When there’s something to say we’ll announce it,” Agnelli reportedly added.
Automotive News earlier reported that Fiat had chosen Demel, currently president and chief executive of Magna Magna Steyr, to replace Giancarlo Boschetti as chief executive of Fiat Auto, Dow Jones noted.
Boschetti is due to retire in late 2004, and Fiat was previously said to be keen on hiring Martin Leach, who resigned in August as head of Ford’s European division, to run its core unit but a non-compete clause in Leach’s contract with Ford may make that impossible, the report noted.
Demel “has vision and strategy, high technical competence and knows the markets,” Rasbank analyst Gabriele Gambarova told Dow Jones, adding: “That said, there’s been quite a few managers who reports say were about to become head of Fiat Auto, so who knows if he’s the one?”
If Demel is chosen, the analyst reportedly noted, he would bring to Fiat’s table a rich menu of experience: he has worked at toolmaker Bosch, was instrumental in the turnaround of Volkswagen AG’s premium brand Audi, presided over VW’s operations in Brazil, and now runs a company that is a major supplier of drivetrains and other components to the big car companies General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrsyler.
Dow Jones added that Fiat has a substantial components business, the premium Alfa Romeo brand to expand, is market leader in Brazil, and is involved in a broadening industrial synergy with GM.
“The Audi turnaround story is also full of examples of what Fiat wants to do,” Gambarova told Dow Jones.
The news agency said that analysts largely agree that, having sold assets and issued new shares, Fiat has put itself on a sound footing for the next two years, shifting the focus to its industrial performance.
Dow Jones said that, under Demel, Magna Steyr, which will assemble BMW’s X3 vehicle next year, also agreed to produce the new Saab 9-3 convertible, indicating it is already involved in its own production deal with Saab, GM’s premium brand in Europe.
Analysts have told Dow Jones that, regardless of Fiat’s equity relationship with GM, the Italian company will probably continue to expand its ties with the US-based firm, linking the Fiat brand to GM’s Opel, and exploring synergies between Alfa Romeo and Saab.
