MILAN, Italy (AP) -- Fiat Group SpA CEO Sergio Marchionne on Wednesday warned that a bailout of the big three carmakers in the U.S. would distort competition across the ailing auto industry.
Marchionne appealed for a fair playing field for the automaking industry as Detroit's Big Three -- Ford, General Motors and Chrysler -- asked for a U.S. government bailout to survive the global financial slowdown that has slashed demand for new cars.
"We need to avoid interference that would change the industrial equilibrium of the markets. That is something Fiat cannot accept," Marchionne told a gathering of regional industrialists in Turin.
Aid to U.S. automakers "would change the balance in Europe. It is a question we are following with attention," he said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is considering whether to offer euro1 billion ($1.27 billion) in loan guarantees to the GM subsidiary Opel, voiced similar concerns during a meeting with Premier Silvio Berlusconi Tuesday in the northern city of Trieste.
Marchionne emphasized that Fiat has not asked for any government aid and that the Italian automaker, which is also the nation's largest industrial concern, doesn't need "the same kind of support as the Americans."
Berlusconi said he is not prepared to offer aid to the Italian industry under current conditions.