The reported deal, which has been neither confirmed nor denied by management at VM Motori, would see Fiat become joint owners along with General Motors, who presently own the remaining 50 per cent of the Cento-based company and retain effective operational control through GM Powertrain Europe. Corriere della Sera’s story focuses on rumours currently circulating in American financial circles, but it is understood that Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has for some time been after sole ownership of the diesel engine manufacturer in order to retain a degree of influence over development of VM’s 630 engine.

Penske originally bought a 51 per cent stake in VM Motori in 2003 from DaimlerChrysler, before completing the purchase of the remaining 49 per cent in 2007. Subsequently that same year, it sold half of the company to General Motors. Russia’s GAZ Group announced plans to purchase Penske’s remaining stake in September 2008, as a complement to their purchase of Britain’s LDV. The intention was to install VM engines in their own GAZelle van and LDV’s Maxus – but the deal fell over in February 2009, a combination of the effects of the global financial crisis and LDV’s abortive relaunch.

VM already has long-standing links with both Fiat and Chrysler, having supplied four-cylinder engines for a variety of Chryslers, Jeeps and Dodges since 1992, as well as to Alfa Romeo both before and after its takeover by Fiat in 1986. It currently furnishes Jeep with its twin-cam, 16-valve RA 428 for use in its Wrangler and Cherokee models, as well as European versions of Chrysler’s Voyager. However, owing to Chrysler’s alliance with Fiat, it is expected that when these models are refreshed, this engine will be replaced with Fiat’s own 2.0 MultiJet.

Consequently, VM has turned its focus towards the RA 630 3.0 V6, which will find its first OEM installations in European versions of the new Jeep Grand Cherokee and the Chrysler 300, which will wear a Lancia badge in Europe. It is not Fiat’s first encounter with the 630 – prototypes of the Alfa 159 with this engine were tested some years ago, but the car’s failure to set the sales charts alight led to management questioning whether such an installation would prove profitable. In the new 300 and Grand Cherokee, it will serve as a replacement for Mercedes-Benz’s OM642 3.0 V6, the diesel option for the previous 300 and Grand Cherokee – a carryover from Chrysler’s time under Daimler ownership.

Since its launch at the Bologna Motor Show in 2004, around 20kg has been shaved off the engine’s dry weight (now cited as 220kg), its emissions updated to Euro V specification, and other detail improvements made. The engine boasts an advanced technical specification on paper, with MultiJet injection, chain-driven double overhead camshafts operating four valves per cylinder via finger followers, a variable-geometry turbocharger, and a central direct injector in each cylinder, with cooled EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) forming an integral part of the cylinder heads. Displacing 2987cc (83mm bore x 92mm stroke), the cylinders are in a 60-degree V. According to VM, the engine is capable of producing 240 horsepower, (59 kW/litre) and 550 Nm of torque at just 1,800 rpm.