(13 Mar 2000) Natural Sound
Italian car makers Fiat and General Motors are expected to announce details of a partnership deal at a joint news conference on Monday.
The agreement could involve a share swap, with the U-S car makers taking 20 percent of Fiat Auto - the Turin-based company's car division - and Fiat taking a 5 percent stake of General Motors.
Fiat's sales have been cut by just under 50 per cent over the past few years.
Fiat, the world's seventh largest car maker and Italy's largest private employer, has seen sales slip over recent years and there have been rumors of foreign mergers or buy-outs.
Its share of the Italian market, once 60 percent, has dwindled to 39 percent as competition eroded its dominance.
And in 1998, Fiat claimed only 11 percent of car sales in Western Europe.
Recent speculation had linked Fiat to General Motors, DaimlerChrysler and other companies, yet the Agnelli family's hold on Fiat has remained tight.
But Gianni Agnelli, Fiat's honorary chairman, recently acknowledged that the company, whose makes include Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Ferrari sports cars, was on the lookout for international partners.
G-M chairman, Jack Smith, and Fiat chairman, Paolo Fresco, will announce the details of what is expected to be an alliance later on Monday.
According to Italian reports, the agreement could involve a share swap, with the U-S car maker taking 20 percent of Fiat Auto - the Turin-based company's car division and Fiat taking a 5 percent stake of General Motors.
The alliance has received the blessing of the country's major union confederation, CGIL.
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