Fiat is unhappy with the development of its partnership with Nanjing Automotive Corp and may soon change partners in China, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said on Thursday.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Marchionne explained that Nanjing Auto had been "distracted" by its project to relaunch the British-based marque MG and Fiat was considering expanding its existing alliances with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC) and Chery Automobile.
Marchionne said the failure of the venture with Nanjing Auto was "a shame. We missed an opportunity. I don't think it's too late but we need to do more".
Fiat's target is to sell 300,000 cars on the Chinese market by 2010, the FT wrote, but its venture with Nanjing Auto has produced only 31,300 since last year.
The Italian automaker's alliance with Chery involves the Chinese company supplying it with 100,000 transmissions and motors a year, while its collaboration with SAIC regards the production of heavy vehicles through Fiat's truck division Iveco.
Marchionne said that while he did hope to resolve problems with Nanking Auto, "we have relationships with SAIC and Chery which could become a car alliance".
