Fiat’s Sergio Marchionne is dropping lots of hints that there will be news of a possible Fiat Auto spin-off on April 21 when an investors’ meeting is scheduled in Turin. There will also be a presentation of a five-year strategic plan then. Five years continuing as now? I doubt that, even if the spin-off isn’t exactly imminent. Marchionne has been thinking about a spin-off for a while now and he’ll be wanting to set out a future for a consolidated automotive company merged with Chrysler and looking out for still higher scale economies in alliance with others (PSA speculation will obviously continue).

ITALY: Fiat Auto spin-off rumours gain momentum