Fiat shares plunged on the Milan stock exchange at the end of the week despite the fact that the group bucked the general trend and posted strong sales for 2007.
Fiat's tumble was in line with the performance of other automakers in Europe which lost major ground after GM said the American car market would not expand this year and Toyota and Nissan cut their sales outlooks for 2008.
By mid-Friday afternoon Fiat shares had fallen 7.11% from their opening price and sank to 15.52 euros, the lowest in a year, with an estimated 5% of the stock capital changing hands.
Fiat's nosedive began on Thursday after the Turin group had opened higher thanks to positive results for 2007 showing a 9.2% jump in sales for the year, for a market share of 31.32%, the best since 2001.
However, the stock turned around and plummeted on the bleak news from the US and ended trading with a loss of 3.53%.
Elsewhere in Europe, Renault dropped 6.24% and Peugeot was down 4.97% in France, while in Germany, where new car sales shrank 7% last year, Daimler was losing 4.94% and Porsche 4.20%.
Operators agree that Fiat's negative performance is unusual given that it is present on the American market only with high-demand marques like Ferrari and Maserati, which are unlikely to feel the effects of a general market slump.
Fiat also should have received a boost from news that it was expanding its joint venture with Chinese automaker Chery to produce and distribute in China its popular Linea, Bravo and Grande Punto models.
In their original joint venture set up last August, Fiat and Chery agreed to annually produce and distribute 175,000 Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Chery cars for the fast-growing Chinese market.
