Fiat CEO weighing plan to build Italian Chryslers

Marchionne says USA facilities near capacity

Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat SpA, wants the Italian government to ease its tax policy to allow its Chrysler unit to build its cars more in Fiat factories.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat SpA, wants the Italian government to ease its tax policy to allow its Chrysler unit to build its cars more in Fiat factories.

MILAN — With Europe's auto market in a nosedive, Fiat's Italian operations are running at just half capacity. Chrysler's are flat out as its sales boom. So why not build Chryslers in Italy?

That's what Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of both companies, is considering to ease the pressure on the U.S. carmaker and keep Italian workers on the job, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Marchionne is asking Italy's government to reduce corporate taxes on exported vehicles in order to competitively build cars in the country for North America, said the people, who didn't want to be identified discussing deliberations that aren't yet finalized. A Fiat representative declined to comment.

Mr. Marchionne may announce the plans by the end of this month when he updates the market on his strategic targets for Fiat, the people said.

"Export from Italy is a way to use some of the capacity that is in Italy and the exports can go anywhere," Mike Manley, the head of Chrysler's international operations, said last week at the company's headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich. Manley declined to elaborate on plans for production in Italy.

Fiat has suspended investments in Italy, reducing spending in Europe by 500 million euros ($655 million) in 2012, and delayed new models as the carmaker heads toward a 700 million- euro loss in the region this year. The European auto market is on track to decline in 2012 by the most in 19 years, according to the ACEA industry group.

Mr. Marchionne told Italian Premier Mario Monti on Sept. 22 that the carmaker, which controls Chrysler, wants to strengthen its position as an exporter. The Italian Economic Development Ministry and Fiat set up a working group to help with the export push, Mr. Marchionne said recently.

"We need to find an agreement quite rapidly, we can't wait forever," Mr. Marchionne told reporters in London. "We need some assistance; we can't do everything by ourselves. We must create conditions in Italy" to export.

The Italian manager, who grew up in Canada, has been urging his European counterparts to come up with a plan to cut overcapacity throughout the region. Fiat, which shuttered a plant in Sicily at the end of last year, has focused on temporary layoffs, as opposed to permanent job cuts, as a response to the contraction, he said last month.

Fiat's Italian plants are running at 50 percent of capacity, Mr. Marchionne said. That compares with an industry average of 70 percent in Europe, according to Deutsche Bank. IHS Automotive estimates that Chrysler will use 100 percent of its capacity in North America this year.

The industry will use 89 percent of capacity in North America in 2012, according to IHS, up from a low of 51 percent in 2009. Chrysler used just 41 percent of its capacity at its nadir that year, IHS says.

"We have taken a different tack because of our involvement with Chrysler in the United States by effectively attempting to find a solution which is outside of the European confines," Mr. Marchionne said during a Sept. 27 press conference in Paris.

Mr. Marchionne is considering building the Dodge Dart at the Cassino plant near Rome, where Fiat assembles its Alfa Romeo Giulietta, one of the people said.

Exporting cars to the U.S. "is a big bet on currency," Max Warburton, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, said Oct. 10 in a note to investors. "But Chrysler is almost out of spare capacity and the Dodge Dart is built on the same platform" as the Giulietta.

Fiat may also resume its investment plan for the giant Mirafiori plant in Turin, one person said. About 5,500 employees at the factory work just a few days a month and will produce fewer than 50,000 Alfa Romeo Mito hatchbacks this year. The plant's official capacity is about 250,000 vehicles.

Mr. Marchionne faces pressure from politicians and union leaders in Italy after backing off an initiative called "Fabbrica Italia," under which Fiat was to spend 20 billion euros to boost production in exchange for labor concessions.

Fiat will invest in Italy "at the right moment to develop new models to catch any recovery of the European market," according to a Sept. 22 joint statement with the government. Mr. Marchionne has said he doesn't expect recovery before 2014.