Fiat’s Marchionne to head Chrysler

Marchionne flew from Germany to the U.S. yesterday to talk with the government about his interest in creating a pan-European automotive company. He is also scheduled to meet the executives from Chrysler to work out the merger details.

Marchionne said that the modalities of his becoming the chief executive officer at Chrysler have already been discussed with the treasury. He declared, “Chrysler is on track to re-emerge from bankruptcy in 60 days. I will become Chrysler CEO after that.”
Fiat’s ambitious plans
The Turin, Italy based Fiat intends to morph itself into a global auto group. After helping out Chrysler, the Italian car maker has shown interest in acquiring Swedish carmaker Saab Automobile as well.

Fiat is already in talks with the General Motor Corp (NYSE: GM) to acquire its Opel and Vauxhall operations in Europe and Latin America. The Italian company ruled out its interest in GM operations in Russia and China.

Marchionne noted, “Saab is an interesting opportunity, the brand is however too small for the auto mass market. We could combine Saab with another brand. In the U.S., there’s a Saab dealership network. It would be a pity to give that up.”

Saab, too, would get a new lease of life by merging into Fiat. Currently, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GM, the Swedish carmaker ran into rough weather and sought protection from creditors on Feb. 20 after GM decided to abandon it by 2010.

Surprisingly, Marchionne is not looking at any alternative if the talks with GM collapse. He said, “If Europe doesn’t like our plan we will be happy to continue the job we are doing in the U.S. with Chrysler.” He added, “I’m already very busy.”