Volkswagen Group CEO Matthias Muller has refused to rule out forging a partnership with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) – but says that no talks have taken place.
At the recent Geneva Motor Show, FCA boss Sergio Marchionne speculated that the Volkswagen Group would be hardest hit by the union of the PSA Group and GM Europe, as they will become Europe’s second largest carmaker. He suggested a partnership between FCA and the Volkswagen Group could help the latter maintain its dominant position in the market.
"You need to achieve scale or we will end up delivering an incredibly poor return and margins on this business. We need to fix this,” said Marchionne, who has long advocated car industry mergers as a way to share the costs of making more environmentally friendly and technological cars.
However, Müller responded to Marchionne's comments at the Volkswagen Group’s annual press conference to announce its profits, saying: “There has been no contact at this point between Mr Marchionne and me, but I have never said I would exclude it.”
“We haven’t dealt with it. Since I assumed the helm here in 2015, there have been different problems to FCA for me to focus on.
"In my opinion, size does not matter. I have always said volume is not our sole goal. We want to be a successful manufacturer in every way."
Jim Holder