A Fiat spokesman said this afternoon that: "FIOM's current stance does not create the necessary conditions to reach our plan's objective and are not acceptable. Right now the conditions are not there to launch the planned investments," according to the Reuters news agency.

Whether this is a final decision or just a negotiating tactic is as yet unclear, particularly as Fiat's senior management have repeatedly threatened to end talks in relation to the new employment contracts forced upon sections of the workforce as part of the "Fabbrica Italia" project. However there was a strong hint yesterday that negotiations had hit the buffers when Italian Labour Minister Maurizio Sacconi said that the position of the talks was "worrisome".

The plan, which would see a new E-segment sedan being built for Maserati at the newly renamed Officine Automobilistiche Grugliasco, formerly Carrozzeria Bertone, would have brought to life into the plant which has been inactive for several years. A 500 million euro investment was proposed to see this factory become the third in Italy to join the 20 billion euro "Fabbrica Italia" project, after Mirafiori and Pomigliano d'Arco.

Fiat bought the shuttered factory at the beginning of August 2009 from the Turin tribunal managing the sale of Gruppo Bertone's assets, the 98 year old design and engineering company having finally filed for bankruptcy after its work had dried up. Carrozzeria Bertone was the contract manufacturing arm of Turin-based Gruppo Bertone; the company's other key division, the design studio Stile Bertone, is now back in the hands of Nuccio's widow Lilli Bertone along with the rights to the name, neither of which Fiat was interesting in acquiring.

The factory has stood idle for several years, its last assembly contract being to build convertible models for GM's Opel/Vauxhall division while the last cars to leave the plant, which is located just a few kilometres from Fiat's own Mirafiori complex, was a limited edition cosmetic upgrade for MINI's John Cooper Works, which was called the 'Grand Prix'.

According to the press release issued in Turin by the Fiat Group on February 15: "The plan centers around a 500 million euro investment (to begin in the second half of 2011) for production of a new E-segment Maserati for international distribution." Originally this niche luxury executive model, dubbed by the press as the "baby Quattroporte", was proposed to be built at the Chrysler Group's Brampton Assembly Plant, which is located in Ontario, Canada, the new car to be spun off the architecture of the now heavily facelifted Chrysler 300 and its close platform sister, the Dodge Charger, both of which were launched at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit last month. The press release added: "Start of production is planned for December 2012. Once fully operational, the plant will produce up to 50,000 cars per year with a progressive return to full utilisation of the workforce." When Fiat bought the plant the year before last it stated that production capacity was around 48,000 units per year, while the unions claimed the factory, which is a surprising large and modern complex for such a niche company, could build up to 100,000 cars per year. While Maserati numbers will be tiny, the architecture will also underpin new models for the Fiat and Chrysler Groups.