Fiat was initially poised to take a higher stake in the Chrysler Group after it emerged from bankruptcy in the summer of 2009. However, with the timing deemed to be politically sensitive, Fiat was instead offered an initial 20 per cent stake, with the chance to raise this to 35 per cent in three five per cent increments – all of which were, in reality, largely cosmetic goals.

The first of these was achieved with commencement of Stateside production of Fiat Powertrain’s 1.4 FIRE engine with a 40 mpg application, although in the Toluca-produced Fiat 500 it caused some surprise in the media as it didn’t prove to be groundbreaking in terms of efficiency. Buried away in the small print of the government’s deal with Fiat, it emerged that the benchmark wasn’t current consumption legislation. According to research by U.S. investigative website, The Truth About Cars, “the ‘green car’ that the White House secured US production of will get 40 mpg combined, but that number is to be measured by the ‘old’ (pre-2008), ‘unadjusted’ EPA methodology, which significantly inflates a cars mileage over the number consumers read on an EPA window sticker.” In the event, achieving this milestone enabled Fiat to increase their stake to 25 per cent.

The next step of 5 per cent is in terms of generating US$1.5 billion of international sales and this target, according to the Bloomberg news agency, has now been achieved, with confirmation set to come as early as Monday or Tuesday, according to its sources.

Meanwhile, speaking on the sidelines of a lecture he gave at the Alma Graduate School in Bologna, Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said: "I think we are really close to the second five percent which should be reached in thirty to sixty days," reported the AGI news agency. Like the previous target, this incremental step is not overly onerous. Sales in March were up in Canada (20,971 units; + 7.7 per cent) and Mexico (7,395 units; + 17 per cent), but further afield, in the only overseas market it has previously had any traction, Europe (EU+EFTA), Chrysler Group’s deterioration continues unabated: just 2,209 units for the year to the end of February is down by a quarter (-24.7 per cent) year-on-year, although the removal from European markets of the Dodge brand has to be factored in to these results.

Chrysler Group said worldwide sales were 164,092 units during March, up 24 per cent year-on-year, while for the year-to-date, worldwide sales are 393,879 units, up 18 per cent on the same period last year. Sales outside North America, however, were just 13,996 units in March, up 1.6 per cent year-on-year, but in percentage terms more than four times less than the previous month, February. Marchionne has set an international sales target rise of almost one-third for the full year.

A second stage of this step was that 90 per cent of Fiat's 700-strong Brazilian dealer network would have to offer Chrysler products. With Chrysler’s poor reputation in Brazil – in-line with its market position across the world – coupled to a weak product line-up, it is unlikely Fiat’s dealers would be interested in adding Chrysler’s products to their portfolios. Moreover, with Brazilian dealers also enjoying significant rights in law, Fiat is unable to force dealers to add the brands. In its own right, Chrysler has just over sixty dealers in Brazil and sales are just a trickle, at just under 4,000 units last year.

Instead, Fiat has negotiated with Chrysler Group’s government stakeholders to allow its products to be sold in Brazil carrying Fiat badges. "For me, the most important thing is to achieve the expansion that we wanted to achieve in the marketplace whether it's products that are branded with Fiat or whether it's our own products," said Chrysler Group's international operations chief Mike Manley on Friday.

In the short term, this practice this is unlikely to extend much beyond the Dodge Journey – which is already set to be sold badged as a Fiat in Europe from the end of next month – as the minivan is built in Mexico, where it can take advantage of free trade agreements to keep import duties down. The Journey will be built for European markets in Mexico, to be called the Fiat Freemont. The Freemont will use the body styling and suspension tune from the Journey's R/T version, meaning the only difference will be the badging and grille insert, and thus adding it to the Brazilian Fiat range will be quite straightforward. Fiat Brazil was already planning to offer the Journey in Brazil under the Freemont name – it is already offered by Chrysler in the country, although with little success – and in this way, it further plays into Fiat’s negotiating hand.