Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne spoke at a videoconference on Friday to offer his compliments and to express his satisfaction for the financial results achieved by Fiat Auto in the last year, and underlining the company's desire to be "the class leaders" and also "having kept the promises made"; bringing Fiat's financial situation out of troubled waters. The videoconference by Marchionne was made to Fiat staff in eleven countries, the CEO making his comments during the presentation of the new joint venture in the area of the financing of vehicle sales between the Turinese group and French finance institution, Credit Agricole.

"The aim is to arrive at 2010 with five billion euros in operating profits. Ten thousand billion Lira, a huge number, never reached before in Fiat's past." These comments also came from Sergio Marchionne last week, this time though the Fiat CEO, was speaking to journalists at the San Germane factory in the Piedmonte region. "This is one of the few plants that I hadn't seen in Italy," he continued. "Production of the Bravo is going very well and in the first week of February it will be in the dealerships. A nice car, a great piece of work."
 

For Marchionne the biggest financial goal set for this year is going to be to double the net profits which were generated during 2006. "We are talking about an enormous result thanks to the work of all of the sectors," he said on this theme. "This is a huge goal that the group has never reached in the past. This was possible only due to the collective work of Fiat."

Marchionne also placed an emphasis on strategic alliances with other carmakers. "We have announced quite a few in the last two years and these will continue. The future of Fiat Auto is to find international partners with whom to develop the structure without running particular risks." He then spoke of the Cassino carmaking plant. "A plant that has had a serious position in the past. I hope to bring it back to the same level. I hope to make production take off in the best of ways and the essential thing is to aim at the end of the year, and the launch of the Delta. With Delta, Bravo and Croma we have to produce one thousand cars a day," he concluded.