Martin Leach has reached a preliminary agreement to take over as CEO of Fiat Auto, industry sources have told Automotive News Europe, but the timing of the move remains in doubt.

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Ford is concerned that Leach will take important information on Ford’s strategies with him to Fiat.

Fiat is stepping up its efforts to have Leach released from a non-compete clause said to be at least six months long.

Fiat group CEO Giuseppe Morchio wants Leach, 46, to succeed Fiat Auto CEO Giancarlo Boschetti, who is due to retire in November 2004.

Leach resigned his post as president of Ford Europe on August 12. He was under pressure to implement Ford’s turnaround strategy, but Ford insiders said Leach left of his own accord.

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Fiat is making its second attempt to hire Leach. In late 2001, he refused an offer by then-CEO Paolo Cantarella to replace Roberto Testore as Fiat’s head. Instead IVECO truck maker CEO Boschetti was appointed to head Fiat.

Boschetti, 63, will turn 65, the usual Italian retirement age, in November 2004.

The timing of a Leach move to Fiat depends on whether the Italian car maker can convince Ford to release him from a non-compete clause. Otherwise, he could not join Fiat until February, 2004.

Ford will be worried if Leach takes with him information on the company’s small-car programme, which competes directly with Fiat’s core products. In addition, Ford arch-rival General Motors part-owns Fiat Auto.

Fiat and Ford had a tug of war over a departing executive once before, though it was in the opposite direction.

In early 1989, Fiat opposed a move by Ford to hire its ousted CEO, Vittorio Ghidella, as a consultant before the end of his six-month non-compete clause.

Ford had already contracted Ghidella but was forced to wait the full six months, Automotive News Europe said.