"Fiat" can not survive alone - Italian manufacturer seeks strategic partner

President of "Fiat", Sergio Markione, said that the leading Italian automobile manufacturer must find strategic partner because it was much too small to survive the current economic crisis.

In the interview that was published yesterday (December 8, 2008) by specialized magazine "Automotive News", Markione anticipated large mergers in the world's automobile industry within the following two years and he estimated that six big companies would become the leaders in the global market, one of which should become the partner of "Fiat".

- In order to make profit, the company needs to produce between 5.5 and 6m vehicles a year - said Markione.

- "Fiat" now produces less than half of that amount. We can not cope with that problem by ourselves - said Markione while describing the current market position of the company from Torino.

According to Reuters' report, the CEO of "Fiat" refused to reveal the name of the potential partner of his company, but, on the basis of the fact that aforementioned level of annual production is achieved by "Toyota", "General motors" (GM), "Volkswagen", "Ford" and "Nissan-Renault", it can be assumed that the future partner of the Torino-based company is one of these giants in the automobile industry.