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Milan - Fiat and Chrysler chief executive Sergio Marchionne said he had no immediate plans to merge the two automakers as shares in a new stripped-down Fiat began trading on the stock exchange on Monday.
"I have no plans to merge Fiat and Chrysler today," Marchionne told journalists at a ceremony organised at the Milan stock exchange for the first listing of spin-off Fiat Industrial, which contains the conglomerate's non-automotive elements.
"I think we have done a relatively decent job in the last 18 months" in terms of "industrial integration," he said, adding "a legal merger is not going to change our lives."
Fiat owns 20% of Chrysler, which it took operational control of in June 2009 after the US automaker nearly went bankrupt.
But Marchionne said it was "possible" that Fiat may boost the holding to 51% "if Chrysler decides to go to the market in 2011."
In September 2010, Fiat shareholders approved the Italian auto giant's plan to separate its car and non-car making activities as part of a drive to increase its global clout.
In the spin off, which took effect on January 1, Fiat's truckmaker Iveco and CNH agricultural and construction equipment manufacturer became part of the new Fiat Industrial.
Its shares opened at €9.00 and had slid to €8.87 as of 0930 GMT.
Fiat, whose carmaking operations include the Fiat, Lancia, Alfa Romeo and Maserati brands, opened at €6.9 and had climbed to €7.01.
When the spin-off was first announced in April, Marchionne said he hoped it would resolve one of the "strategic issues" that over the past years "has been a thorn in Fiat's side."
The car and non-car activities have different strategies, markets and capital needs.
The Italian-Canadian Marchionne, who is credited with rescuing Fiat from the brink of collapse, became Chrysler's chief executive in the deal under which Fiat contributed its small-car and green technology, and the US carmaker opened the door to its sprawling distribution network.
