Dramatically bucking the global trend of poor September sales, Italian automaker Fiat announced an increase in European sales last month over the same period in 2007. CEO Sergio Marchionne told reporters gathered in Milan that the company is still on target to reach its 2008 sales goals, including a newly revised expected profit of 3.6 billion euros (up from 3.4 billion).
Buoyed by continued strong sales of the 500 minicar, which will soon have an extra-efficient diesel version, Fiat will announce official sales numbers tomorrow. Sales were down 6 percent in the automaker’s native Italy, but French new Fiat registrations were up dramatically – 46.7 percent – thanks to government incentives for smaller, less-polluting cars.
Marchionne, credited by many with saving Fiat, expressed his doubts on the possible merger between Chrysler LLC and General Motors.
“I don’t know what it will resolve,” he told Reuters. Fiat has been rumored as a potential partner for Chrysler, though there has been no official comment on the matter.
