ROME: Fiat and Chrysler could be merged within two or three years into a single company with its headquarters in the United States, Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne said in remarks which upset Italians Saturday. His comments on Friday in San Francisco were quoted by Italy's Corriere della Sera, prompting the mayor of Turin, Fiat's birthplace, to demand “immediate clarification.” “It's clear that an international group can have several offices but it would be different if the headquarters were in the United States,” Sergio Chiamparino said. A number of leading politicians also expressed indignation, and ANSA news agency said talks were planned next week between Marchionne and Economic Development Minister Paolo Romani. “In the next two or three years we will be able to see a single entity. It could be based here in the United States,” Corriere della Sera quoted Marchionne as saying. “We'll have to integrate the companies first, though, and then look at the management.” Faced with the outcry, the Labor Ministry Saturday published a statement showing the Fiat chief backing away from his previous remarks in a telephone conversation with Labor Minister Maurizio Sacconi. In October, Marchionne ignited controversy when he said that “Fiat would be better off if it eliminated Italy”. Trade unions and politicians accused him of “blackmail” in pushing through a tough deal on working conditions at Fiat's flagship Mirafiori plant in Turin to save the factory from closure. Marchionne had given the workers the stark choice of losing their jobs or accepting more overtime, fewer breaks and shift work for up to 24 hours at a time, promising investment of one billion euros ($1.3 billion) in Mirafiori in return. Fiat, acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino, was founded in 1899 and has 188 factories around the world. – Agence France
