According to the CEO of both companies, Sergio Marchionne, said yesterday, Fiat SpA and Chrysler Group LLC will have a single management structure soon. The Bloomberg financial news agency reports that Marchionne told to journalists in Zurich that he plans to announce a unified structure "in terms of leadership pretty quickly," though he declined to specify a date.
Marchionne plans to merge the two carmakers to reduce costs and achieve a target of more than €100 billion ($140 billion) in combined revenue by 2014. However, it’s unlikely that it will happen in 2011.
Fiat initially acquired a 20% stake in Chrysler by the U.S. government, aims to hold 57% of the third-biggest U.S. automaker by the end of 2011. The United Auto Workers union's trust will have 41.5% of Chrysler at that time, Fiat said.
Fiat agreed with the government to pay $500 million for its remaining 6%, boosting its holding to 52% and expecting to receive another 5% as payment for developing a fuel-efficient car for the US carmaker.
Besides, Fiat will expand a credit line to as much as €2 billion as Marchionne aims to improve financing flexibility after gaining control of Chrysler.