Fiat Group has responded very quickly to contradict comments made in an interview with Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli which implied that Fiat would assume 35 percent of the ailing American automaker's debt to the US government if the deal to take a 35 percent equity stake was successful.

Nardelli was interviewed on March 17 by CNBC and comments were made that implied that Fiat would assume responsibility for Chrysler's US debt equal to the stake it would take up. The video posted on Chrysler's website and it featured Nardelli saying that the company can be viable on its own, but that a deal with Fiat would enhance that viability while a narrator made the comments about Fiat becoming responsible for a portion of the Chrysler debt.

Chrysler is currently being propped up by a US$4 billion loan from the US Treasury Department and is seeking a further US$5 billion to keep it afloat. Under the terms of a deal announced in January, Fiat will take a 35 percent stake in Chrysler in exchange for supplying its efficient technology and smaller car platforms. Fiat has an option to raise this equity stake to 55 percent for a nominal sum.

However Fiat has moved very swiftly to deny Nardelli's comments. "In response to recent news regarding the proposed alliance between Fiat and Chrysler, Fiat Group intends to make it absolutely clear that the proposed alliance will not entail the assumption of any current or future indebtedness of Chrysler," Fiat Group said in a statement issued in Turin today.