Mazda Motor Corp and Fiat SpA will team up to make a small sports car in the first step of possibly broader partnership between the Japanese and Italian auto makers as the industry's biggest players continue to team up to share development costs and improve economies of scale. The agreement--a non-binding memorandum of understanding announced early Wednesday--allows Mazda to try out a partnership with another big foreign manufacturer after a pact with Ford Motor Co. (F) fell apart last year.
For Fiat, the deal with Mazda it is latest move to bolster its presence in Asia--Mazda is the Italian group's third partner in the region---while giving it a new model to expand the line-up of its Alfa Romeo sports car brand which it plans to relaunch in the U.S. next year.
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