Sergio Marchionne, Fiat-Chrysler’s CEO, is putting a stop to his search for a suitable partner for FCA. The group’s boss that the company is not in a position to seek hold merger talks with anyone and that it will focus instead on achieving their planned goals.
During an investors’ meeting in Amsterdam, he also said that there were no merger talks currently with Volkswagen, an idea that he toyed with last month.
“On the Volkswagen issue, on the question if there are ongoing discussions, the answer is no,” Marchionne said according to Reuters. “I have a lot of respect for Volkswagen and I think we are not in a position to discuss any alliance, the primary focus is (on) the execution of the plan,” he added.
Last month Marchionne said that VW may be interested in pursuing a merger with FCA, following the announcement of PSA buying Opel from GM. VW’s first reaction was to flat-out deny any possibility of this scenario, only to be followed by Mattias Mueller saying that VW is more open on the issue of tie-ups, inviting Marchionne to speak to him directly rather with the press.
Marchionne will step down from the seat of FCA’s CEO position after the approval of the company’s 2018 results. FCA Chairman John Elkann said that Marchionne would be replaced internally.
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