Fiat Group Automobiles has opened a new 30 million euro seven-storey German headquarters in the central city of Frankfurt which will house the Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Fiat Professional brands. Photo: Fiat.

Fiat has officially opened a new, seven-storey German headquarters in the central city of Frankfurt.

Fiat Germany chief executive Manfred Kantner, in remarks prepared for delivery to Fiat guests at an evening party, appealed for the German federal and state governments to make up their minds about changes to German car tax.

He said shoppers were being put off buying by the concern that a new tax, based on emissions rather than cylinder capacity of engines, would be more costly. 'With just two weeks to go until Christmas, the wish-list I would send to the politicians would be for a clear and environmentally oriented arrangement on taxation on vehicles,' he said.

The Italian company has decided to combine two sections which until now have been working out of another Frankfurt address and the city of Heilbronn, 130 kilometres further south. The shift will save costs, but the payroll remains the same with 298 employees at Fiat Group Automobiles Germany AG. The company said 212 of them were working from this week in Frankfurt, while the rest were to remain in Heilbronn, where they are employed by group subsidiaries such as Fiat Bank.

The purpose-built Fiat complex, with 6,000 square metres of offices and 1,800 square metres of showrooms for the Italian group's four brands - Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Fiat Professional - is located among other motor traders in the city. 'The city of Frankfurt and its environs as well as the state of Hesse are an excellent area not only to work in but also to live in,' Kantner said. Construction of the glass and concrete complex, the company's new registered address in Germany, began last year at a cost of 30 million euro (44 million dollars).

The Turin-based company, which states that it was one of the first foreign makers with a German subsidiary, setting up the unit in 1922, says that its group sales in Germany last year amounted to 1.54 billion euros. Figures from German car licensing authorities show Fiat Group has a market share in Germany of 2.4 per cent, with 68,436 units sold over the past 11 months. New registrations of its three car brands have declined nearly 5 per cent this year whereas the company had set itself a target of lifting sales by 20 per cent and winning a market share of 3 per cent. But Fiat says sales of its Fiat Professional light vans are likely to score a gain of 23 per cent in Germany this year with 36,100 units to be sold.

Report: Deutsche Presse-Agentur