The president of Fiat-Chrysler
Automobiles (FCA) said Wednesday that although he doesn't intend
to sell his family's shares in the newly merged automaker, he
would consider diluting its stake if it were good for the
company.
"I am not a seller," John Elkann, a member of the Agnelli
family that founded Fiat, said in an interview with Bloomberg's
Businessweek.
Elkann manages Exor SpA, the holding company of the Agnelli
family that still owns 30% of the company it founded in 1899.
However, some of the family shares could be sold if a deal
were found that would "make the company stronger," added Elkann.
Both Elkann and FCA Chief Executive Officer Sergio
Marchionne suggested in the interview that they would keep watch
for further merger opportunities - outside Europe as well as
within - that could allow FCA to grow beyond its current spot as
the world's No. 7 automaker.
According to Marchionne, it is conceivable that further
mergers are possible in the auto sector while an analyst quoted
by Businessweek said that the need for lower auto prices will
drive greater demand for economies of scale and thus, further
mergers.
"There is room to create one guy which will be bigger,"
than Toyoto, the world's current No. 1 automaker, said
Marchionne.
He also told Businessweek that he intends to retire in
2018, at the end of the company's current five-year industrial
plan integrating the newly merged FCA.
"I'll certainly do something else (after 2018)," Marchionne
said in the interview.
The 62-year-old Italian-Canadian was hired by Elkann in
2004 to run Fiat at time when the company was near bankruptcy.
Marchionne quickly managed to turn around affairs at
Italy's biggest private employer and get it back to
profitability within two years.
In 2009, he struck a deal with the US government that
enabled Fiat to take over the then-ailing Chrysler and quickly
revived the America company's fortunes before the merger
finalized earlier this month.
The new FCA will begin trading on the New York Stock
Exchange as a single company next week.
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