Italian auto giant Fiat is interested in Opel again

MILAN - Agence France-Presse

A model poses next to the new Opel car at a press day at the Paris Auto Show. AP photo

Italian auto giant Fiat is planning to ask U.S. rival General Motors to buy its troubled German subsidiary Opel for a “symbolic” price, Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore reported on Oct. 5.

Fiat already made a bid for Opel in 2009 but the plan never materialized and General Motors instead allied itself with France’s PSA Peugeout Citroen -- a partnership that could be an obstacle for Fiat’s proposal, the report said.

Savings in design and production

Il Sole 24 Ore, which did not cite its sources, said Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne intended to buy Opel “basically for nothing.”

Marchionne has already engineered a merger with Chrysler after the US giant emerged from bankruptcy and he is now also the head of Chrysler.

A partnership between Fiat and Opel, which are both suffering from plunging car sales in Europe, would allow savings in the design and production of small cars, which is something that Fiat cannot do with Chrysler, the
daily said.