Fiat 500 L presented in Geneva - Government of Serbia starts negotiations with several other carmakers

(Boris Tadic in Geneva)

Serbian President Boris Tadic said at the presentation of Fiat's new model in Geneva that the Serbian government would start negotiations with few other world-renowned carmakers in late March and early April, but he did not want to reveal their names.

The president admitted at the Motor Show in Geneva that the price of EUR 16,000 for Fiat 500 L was a bit too high for the domestic market.

The estimates are that Fiat's exports from Serbia may be worth between 1 and 1.3 billion euros, but Tadic's forecast is that they could reach as many as 1.5 billion euros.

Although people at Fiat announce that the production in Kragujevac should kick off in July, Serbian Minister of Economy Nebojsa Ciric said that the plant would start the production as early as mid-April.

The new model is presented in dark red, yellow, white and metallic gray. It features a six-gear transmission and a bicolor steering wheel, and its maximum speed is 210km/h.

(Fiat 500 L)

In addition to President Tadic and Minister Ciric, the presentation of this model was also attended by Sergio Marchionne and former Minister of Economy Mladjan Dinkic.

Fiat denies plans to close two plants

Fiat on Monday denied a report it was planning to close its historic Mirafiori plant in Turin and a second factory, at Pomigliano d'Arco near Naples, Ansa news agency reported.

In a statement, Fiat said the report on the two purported closures, published by business Web site Affaritaliani.it, was "groundless", and it reserved the right to take action against false media reporting.

- There is no plan for the closure of plants in Italy - the Turin-based carmaker said.