Italian automaker Fiat and Germany's BMW are still in talks on the feasibility of developing a common platform for their respective Alfa Romeo and Mini marques, a BMW spokesman told ANSA on Thursday.
The spokesman made the remarks in response to a report the day before by the German economic daily Handelsblatt that the two carmakers had broken off negotiations.
Last Saturday BMW board member and sales and marketing chief Ian Robertson said that talks continued ''on the level of engineers'' but that no date had been set to sign a definitive agreement.
''As soon as we have a date we will announce it,'' he added.
The talks began after Fiat and BMW signed a memorandum of understanding last July to develop common platforms and components for future Alfa Romeo and Mini models.
At the end of September BMW board member Friedrich Eichiner, who is responsible for brand and strategy development at the German automaker, said that ''an agreement will be reached by the end of the year, at the latest. Our engineers are currently examining the nuts and bolts of the deal''.
Sources at Fiat said at the time that aside from developing common platforms and components, the agreement should also see BMW offering Alfa Romeo support for the return of the Italian sports car, as well as its trendy new retro 500 model, to the lucrative North American market.
Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has always said that ''it is impossible to build a (standard) car in Europe and then sell it in the US at a profit''.
BMW has a plant in the southern state of South Carolina.
However, since then Fiat has reached a preliminary agreement with the Number Three US automaker Chrysler to take a 35% stake in the American company in a deal which would include producing Fiat group models, first of all Alfa Romeo cars and the 500, in the US.
In exchange Fiat would give its small-car and cutting edge 'green' technology to Chrysler.
The deal between Fiat and Chrysler depends on the Detroit giant receiving further bailout funds from the US government.
Fiat's exploratory talks with BMW and propose partnership with Chrysler are part of the Italian automaker's strategy of 'targeted alliances' to reduce costs and boost efficiency.
Marchionne introduced the strategy after successfully dissolving Fiat's alliance with General Motors of the United States in 2005.
Since then Fiat has sealed over 30 targeted accords around the world with various motor vehicle and component producers.
The agreements focus on specific aspects which, aside from platforms and components, also include motors and transmissions as well as market niches.
Among Fiat partners are Ford Motor Company of the US, France's PSA (Peugeot-Citroen), Daimler of Germany, Japan's Suzuki, Indian carmaker Tata, Severstal of Russia and Chery Automobile of China.
Marchionne's strategy of targeted alliances helped turn Fiat around from a group which was losing $3.7 million a day, when he joined in 2004, to one which saw a record year in 2007 and continued to return a profit and increase its market share until the global financial crisis exploded in the latter half of last year.
