ROME--Fiat SpA (F.MI) Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne says he
has no intention of abandoning the carmaker's home country of Italy
but warns that the collapse of the domestic car market means he
can't invest as planned.
"We're here...I am not going to give up," Mr. Marchionne told
Rome daily La Repubblica in an interview published Tuesday. "I'm
not talking about excess headcount or of closing factories," he
added.
His announcement last week that he had scrapped a 20 billion
euro ($26 billion) investment plan sparked a deluge of criticism,
led by Tod SpA (TOD.MI) Chairman and CEO Diego Della Valle.
Mr. Marchionne said Fiat's presence in Italy was being
conditioned by a huge drop in car sales in its main European
market. Next year would be "bad, very bad" and it was pointless to
roll out new models when there is hardly any demand, he added.
Fiat will earn more than EUR3.5 billion in operating profit this
year, but all of it comes from outside Italy, where fiat will lose
around EUR700 million, Mr. Marchionne said.
Meanwhile, Chrysler Group LLC, which Fiat controls, introduced
66 new and restyled models at a car show in the U.S. this
month.
"Fiat is no longer only an Italian company...If I develop a car
in America and then send it in Europe for a profit, it's all the
same to me, and it should be the same," Mr. Marchionne told La
Repubblica.
He said he was trying to exploit the U.S. economic recovery,
especially for auto sales, "to acquire the financial security to
protect Fiat's presence in Italy and Europe."
Mr. Marchionne compared his responsibility to Italy as on par
with his responsibility to shareholders. He made it clear he
expected reciprocity in the form of modernized labor laws and
industrial relations with unions.
"If Fiat wants to be Chrysler's partner, it has to be reliable,"
he said.
Alluding to Mr. Della Valle, Mr Marchionne added that he used to
buy Tod's "high-quality and high-priced shoes" but no longer
does.
Newspaper Web site: www.repubblica.it
Write to Christopher Emsden at chris.emsden@dowjones.com
#CHCEmsden
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