Fiat Slows Investment And Expansion Activities Amid Shaky European Economy
While the revival of the Fiat brand in North America and the acquisition of Chrysler suggested financial strength within the automaker, it seems no company is immune to the current global economic downturn.
According to Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne, “a better line of sight” into Europe’s financial situation and its future is required before resuming Fiat’s planned pace of investment and vehicle launches. Marchionne admitted that Fiat has, “slowed down some of the processes that Fiat normally would have executed much faster for investments and for expansion activities in the Euro zone.”
Awaiting the developments from this week’s EU summit, Marchionne says with cautious confidence, “In the next 30 to 60 days, we should see the euro reacquiring credibility, reacquiring, certainly, support in the international financial markets to move forward.” Financial authorities of France and Germany will lead discussions and plans to stop the sovereign debt crisis from getting worse and restore the market’s confidence in Europe.
Currently, Fiat has five money-losing plants in Italy. Although plans to takeover Chrysler were initially to restore the indebted American automaker, now Fiat must use Chrysler’s profits to compensate for the weak European economy.
[Source: Automotive News]
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