ITALYS PRIME minister Silvio Berlusconi (pictured on right) speaks with Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne after he signed a contract following Fiat’s deal to build cars in China with Guangzhou Automobile Group.
The deal signals an end to a two-year carmaking hiatus in the world’s fastest growing major car market.
The two carmakers will invest “more than €400 million in the venture”, Fiat said in a statement yesterday.
Production will start in the second half of 2011. The deal is another step in Marchionne’s bid to turn Fiat into a global automaker, following the company’s acquisition of Chrysler and their bid for Opel earlier this year.
Fiat has lacked a carmaking partner in China since 2007, when Nanjing Automobile Group pulled out of a venture amid plunging sales, effectively locking Fiat out of the Chinese car market, which has grown by 21 per cent this year alone.