Fiat Looking At Mazda To Form Partnership?

Fiat SpA is scouring Asia for a possible partner after the planned alliance between General Motors Co. and PSA Peugeot Citroen shrank the pool of European candidates.

Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne, who says he’s searching for a third partner after merging with Chrysler Group LLC to help reduce development costs and boost sales in fast- growing countries, said teaming with either Suzuki Motor Corp. (7269) or Mazda Motor Corp. (7261) makes sense. Fiat and Chrysler only sell half the cars Marchionne said is needed for long-term survival.

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Larrybel2000 - 3/7/2012 1:22:11 PM

+3 Boost

I hope Mazda knows better than to do that.

xjprou - 3/8/2012 8:47:51 AM

0 Boost

Marchionne's like a kid standing in front of a pinata with a wood stick!
Throwing blinded swings to see where does he lands one!!!

nguyenvuminh - 3/8/2012 9:11:02 AM

0 Boost

In terms of technology to develop new cars, Mazda is badly in need of alternative fuel technology (diesel, hybrid, electric, or combination thereof) and Fiat-Chrysler is not renown for this aspect. In terms of distribution footprint, with the exception of Chrysler in the US and Fiat in basically Italy, Mazda pales by comparison to Honda & Toyota wherever you travel in Asia. At the risk of being rude, this seems like a marriage of the desperate. All the good ones have paired up and these are the left overs. Kinda sad really because I think the world of the Mazda 3 and the Mazda 5.

Willis - 3/8/2012 11:17:00 AM

0 Boost

Actually Fiat is quite an innovative company. They hold several innovation patents in Europe in regards to new engine technology and I believe trans-axle technology.

mini22 - 3/9/2012 6:37:18 PM

+1 Boost

The Fiat/GM deal is dead. Any Fiat Peugoet deal is also dead.Volvo is a small player but could offer a platform to Fiat for a D class car. Fiat could offer Volvo small car platforms at a lower cost then what Volvo could produce. A Mazda or Suzuki deal gives Fiat better access to the Pacific market. Fiat actually does have good engine technology and diesel technology. Also Fiat is coming out with a 500 EV before the end of 2012.Fiat could offer Mazda and or Suzuki all of these things(They are already giving Diesel engines to Suzuki now).Sharing platforms with Mazda is what Ford did over the past 10 yrs. Ford up until then really had no competative D class fwd platforms to sell in the US.The Tempo and Topaz were terrible. The Contour and Mystique wer better but based on a small wheelbase Ford Mondeo platform.There was a 5 yr gap between Contour and Fusion.Since then Ford really benefitted. Fiat and Mazda could perhaps benefit as well.

infiniti_G35c - 3/12/2012 11:24:59 AM

+1 Boost

Pardon me for being ignorant, but does Suzuki even still sell vehicles in the United States? In my opinion, Fiat has a death-wish if they think pairing with Suzuki would benefit the brand.

Mazda/Fiat sounds a bit more feasible. Let's see how this one unfolds.