Italy is and will remain central to the activities of the Fiat group, Chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo said on Tuesday.
Montezemolo made his remarks during the taping of a TV talk show and they were an indirect response to Industry Minister Claudio Scajola, who last week voiced concern over Fiat's global ambitions and the possibility of plant closings and layoffs in Italy should it enter into a partnership with Chrysler of the United States and Germany's Opel.
The minister expressed his concern in a letter to Montezemolo in which he said the Italian automaker's expansion plans needed to be examined in a three-way meeting between the government and Fiat's management and unions.
Montezemolo said he was open to such a meeting because ''it is important that when there is such a sharp drop in demand on the Italian market, on the European market, we all sit down together to examine the problems at hand and figure out how we can tackle the structural problems, while maintaining commitments made with staff''.
''This needs to be done regardless of whether or not we are able to strike partnerships because, and I cannot say it strongly enough, Fiat is 'Italy-centric' and this not just because Italy is part of our brand but because this country, this market and our collaborators are our priority,'' Montezemolo said.
In regard to Fiat's future after possible partnerships with Chrysler and Opel, Montezemolo observed that ''it's impossible to say what will happen when accords have not yet been finalised and which may never be so''.
''Nevertheless, from a constructive point of view, we need to sit down with the unions and the government and take a good look at the automobile market and its future prospects, independent of any accords we may or may not strike,'' he added.
Fiat's unions have already protested over possible jobs cuts and will meet on Wednesday with their Opel counterparts who are also concerned over future layoffs.
Looking at Fiat in general, Montezemolo said the group was able to rebound brilliantly from near collapse five years ago thanks to three main factors: ''a great effort by our shareholders who invested despite the risk; a modern and strong management team; and the readiness to continue to take risks''.
Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne last month struck a non-cash deal which, if successful, will give it an initial 20% stake and management control of Chrysler in exchange for its green and small car technology.
The accord will see Fiat expand its stake to 35% once it starts producing its own cars in Chrysler's plants and even over 51% once federal bail-out funds have been repaid.
Marchionne is now engaged in talks to acquire Opel from General Motors and merge it with Fiat in order to create, with Chrysler, the world's second biggest automaker after Toyota.
Here again he is trying to do this without Fiat making any cash investment, by offering GM a stake in the merged auto giant and relying on guaranteed loans from Germany's central and regional governments.
