Italian car maker Fiat has signed a letter of intent with Russia's Sberbank for a joint-venture that will produce and sell Jeep-branded cars in the country, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported on Sunday. Fiat and its US affiliate Chrysler Group are looking to expand in fast-growing emerging markets like Russia to offset slow growth in Europe.
A Russian official said in December that Fiat would sign an agreement to build a major new car plant in St Petersburg during the first quarter of 2012. Two sources familiar with the negotiations had identified the partner as state lender Sberbank.
Corriere said the letter signed on Saturday night envisages a joint-venture in which Fiat would have an 80 percent share. Sberbank is set to finance the project by offering a credit line to the new company, the paper said without quoting sources. Fiat had no comment. Corriere said the joint-venture would invest 850 million euros ($1.14 billion) in the St. Petersburg plant which would produce 120,000 cars a year. It said a second plant would be opened in Moscow.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.