Fiat’s chief executive reiterated on Tuesday the automaker was keeping all its options open in the search for industrial allies, after it dissolved a five-year partnership with General Motors last month, Reuters reported.
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The news agency noted that GM paid Fiat $US2 billion in February to annul a put option that could have forced it to buy loss-mired Fiat Auto, where the Italian group is trying to slash costs.
“Now the field is completely open. After having solved the problems with GM, the future is ours,” Sergio Marchionne, CEO of the Fiat group and the car division, told Reuters on the sidelines of the Geneva motor show.
He reportedly added Fiat Auto would keep control of its underperforming Alfa Romeo brand, though it will have closer ties with Maserati – in February, Fiat split Maserati from the Ferrari racing unit to link it more closely with sporty Alfa Romeo, in what was seen as the first step towards a Ferrari bourse [stock exchange] listing.
Marchionne confirmed there were no plans for a Ferrari stock market debut in 2005, Reuters added.
“We’ll take one year at a time. Now we’re trying to finish this one in peace,” he told the news agency.
According to Reuters Marchionne also said Italian car sales figures for February were “encouraging” for Fiat but gave no further details. Official data on new car registrations is due late on Tuesday.
The news agency added that newspaper Il Giornale reported earlier that car registrations in Italy fell 5% year-on-year in February, with Fiat’s share at around 27.8%.
