German Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said Monday after a meeting with Fiat SpA’s (F.MI) Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne that the Italian automaker wants to forge a global car alliance and plans to enter this new company free of debt.
Zu Guttenberg told reporters that Marchionne sees the need for consolidation if Fiat was to buy General Motors Corp.‘s (GM) German unit Opel, adding that the brand’s German assembly plants and German headquarters would be kept.
Zu Guttenberg said according to Fiat’s estimates the overall need for bridge-financing for its planned alliance with GM Europe is between EUR5 billion and EUR7 billion. Wall Street Journal
He described Fiat’s Opel concept on Monday as “interesting” but stressed that the government would have to examine it further before reaching a verdict.
Guttenberg said Fiat envisioned preserving the Opel brand and the GM unit’s three German assembly plants. However, he stressed that there was “a certain need for consolidation.” The Associated Press
The new company would have annual sales of $106 billion U.S. and annual capacity of well over 5 million vehicles.
“From an engineering and industrial point of view it would be a marriage made in heaven,” he said. The Gazette
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