Elkann of Exor Highlights Long-Term Commitment to Fiat Chrysler

MILAN (Reuters) – Exor, the Agnelli family's holding company, remains committed to Fiat Chrysler (FCA), said President John Elkann, citing remarks likely to weaken rumors that the Italian automaker could be the target of a redemption.

"Our presence in the capital FCA has given successive management teams the latitude to plan for the long term rather than react to daily pressures," said John Elkann, chairman of Fiat Chrysler's board of directors, in a statement. letter to the shareholders of Exor. late on Monday.

"This approach and this state of mind remain for us today more than ever, and our commitment to FCA and our participation in its bold and profitable future are also unchanged."

Fiat's largest shareholder, Exor, with a 29% stake, diversified its badets in recent years after acquiring PartnerRe, the US reinsurer, in 2015.

The media reported last month that Renault French wanted to resume negotiations on the merger with the Japanese Nissan Motor. within 12 months, after which he might consider an offer of purchase for Fiat.

The president of the Peugeot family holding company, FFP, said he would support a new deal and suggested that Fiat Chrysler was part of the options.

Elkann said that the next 20 years in the automotive industry would witness great changes and suggested to the Agnelli family, the founders of Fiat, not to remain pbadive.

"We are determined that we and Fiat Chrysler will play our role in an active and ambitious way in this exciting new era," he said in his letter.

After the death of former managing director Sergio Marchionne last year, speculation about the future of Fiat Chrysler has intensified.

Marchionne, who had created the group by merging a distressed Fiat with Chrysler in the US, had advocated industrial mergers to share the cost of building electric cars and autonomous cars.

Car manufacturers around the world are looking for solutions to face the growing competition, the rise of electrification and the threat of a trade war between the United States and China.