Sergio Marchionne Continues to Ask for EU Coordination for Auto Industry

Sergio Marchionne has been beating the drum for months for a coordinated EU-wide reaction to the crisis in the  European automotive industry that would include governments. 

"I am concerned that if we don't find a collective will to resolve this at a European level this is going to become a permanent crisis," Marchionne said.

Marchionne is also the president of the European automakers association ACEA. In December, it decided that each member had the right to reach their own decisions on financial issues like factory closures. 

The ACEA predicts that auto sales in Europe will be down by between 8% and 10%. However, the ACEA expects that Spanish, Italian and French manufacturers will suffer larger losses than the Germans. Auto sales have fallen for each of the past five years. 

"If the French government were to help one specific carmaker and were not to help us or another carmaker, it would breach the rules of the European treaties.

"It is better left to the European Commission, whose primary responsibility is the single market. If it doesn't intervene now it will violate its obligations to the single market," said Marchionne.

Marchionne also is against the European free trade agreement with South Korea and the possibility of European free trade agreements with the United States and Japan. However, he admits a free trade agreement  with the US would be beneficial for Fiat/Chrysler. 

Marchionne plans a major announcement about the state of FiatFiatItaly, 1899 > present159 models
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and ChryslerChryslerUnited States of America, 1925 > present70 models
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on October 30 where he will announce their sales forecasts in 2013 and 2014. 

Source: Automotive News Europe