Fiat Group

After an abusive affair with Germany's Daimler ending in 2007 and a dysfunctional relationship with former owner Cerberus Capital Management that ended with the company in bankruptcy Thursday, can Chrysler learn to love again?

Pfizer Inc. said Friday that it is selling most of the product lines of its trouble-plagued Shiley Inc. heart-valve manufacturing subsidiary to an Italian company for an undisclosed price. Shiley's line of cardiovascular products will be sold to the FIAT Group, a diversified industrial company based in Milan with $2 billion in annual revenue. It is not related to the car company. Pfizer, based in New York, expects the deal to close in February.

Fiat of Italy can try to force the sale of its automotive unit to General Motors Corp. beginning today, a move that the world's biggest automaker does not want and that might lead to a downgrade of its $291 billion of debt. Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne and General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner are working within a mediation period in which to reach a solution. If none is found within 10 days, either side can take the matter to court in New York.

Ford Motor Co. and the huge Italian industrial company Fiat Group today announced a joint venture combining their farm equipment operations. Fiat will own 80% of the new company, and Ford will hold the rest. The new company will combine Fiat's FiatGeotech subsidiary and the Ford New Holland subsidiary. Ford said it will receive an undisclosed cash payment from Fiat. The agreement is subject to government approvals.

Ford Motor Co. and Fiat S.p.A., Italy's largest auto maker, announced Tuesday that talks had broken off on combining the giant auto makers' European operations. The two companies had been negotiating for about a year over a variety of possible combinations, from a joint company formed by Ford of Europe Inc. and Fiat to the joint production of automotive components. The break-off in talks was announced in a statement issued by both companies.

Pfizer Inc. said Friday it is selling most of the product lines of its trouble-plagued Shiley Inc. heart-valve manufacturing subsidiary to an Italian company for an undisclosed price. Shiley's line of cardiovascular products will be sold to Italy's SNIA BPD S.p.A. unit of the Fiat Group, a diversified industrial company based in Milan, with $2 billion in annual revenue.

Union leaders announced a tentative accord Sunday in the three-week strike at a Fiat factory in southern Italy that has cost the automaker tens of thousands of vehicles just as the company was trying to bounce back after years of losses. Labor leaders expressed satisfaction over the accord, reached after one of Italy's longest and more violent walkouts in years. "We'll sign the pact after the workers approve it," said Gianni Rinaldini, secretary-general of the FIOM metalworkers' union.

Fiat, once Italy's most potent industrial empire and still its biggest employer, bowed to worldwide competition Monday and handed a 20% stake in its auto division to General Motors Corp., forming an alliance to cut costs and seek new markets for both companies. The proposed deal, announced at Fiat headquarters in Turin, capped years of courtship of the proudly independent Italian company, the world's No. 7 auto maker, by nearly all its major rivals. Fiat would get a 5.

Fiat plans to slash 12,300 jobs worldwide over the next three years and close a dozen factories -- part of a turnaround plan aimed at returning the struggling conglomerate to profitability in 2006. The three-year, $22.5-billion investment plan was seen as the company's last chance to remain afloat, after years of slumping sales in Italy and Western Europe. The job cuts will be made at the money-losing core unit Fiat Auto, truckmaker Iveco and tractor-and-earthmoving equipment maker CNH Global.

The last Fiat 500 -- the tiny car with the big personality -- rolled off assembly lines nearly 30 years ago. But it's still fighting retirement. With more than 600,000 Fiat 500s out on the roads, two Italian senators are pushing a bill to make sure the beloved mini-car that thrust Italy into the motor age isn't done in by modern antipollution laws. Sens.

Fiat quickly plugged a power vacuum in its upper ranks Tuesday when it named turnaround expert Sergio Marchionne to be its fifth chief executive in two years. Marchionne, who was CEO of Swiss testing services firm SGS and a Fiat director, immediately pledged to stick to the turnaround plan drawn up by his predecessor, Giuseppe Morchio, who quit unexpectedly Sunday. "The plan was approved by the board.

Union leaders announced a tentative accord Sunday in the three-week strike at a Fiat factory in southern Italy that has cost the automaker tens of thousands of vehicles just as the company was trying to bounce back after years of losses. Labor leaders expressed satisfaction over the accord, reached after one of Italy's longest and more violent walkouts in years. "We'll sign the pact after the workers approve it," said Gianni Rinaldini, secretary-general of the FIOM metalworkers' union.

Fiat, Italy's largest manufacturer, agreed to sell its aerospace unit to Carlyle Group Inc. and Finmeccanica for $1.7 billion, as the company raises money to turn around its carmaker. The offer prices FiatAvio at $100 million less than the bid made in April by the U.S. buyout firm and Finmeccanica, Italy's largest defense company, and comes amid consolidation in Europe's aerospace and defense industries.

Fiat plans to slash 12,300 jobs worldwide over the next three years and close a dozen factories -- part of a turnaround plan aimed at returning the struggling conglomerate to profitability in 2006. The three-year, $22.5-billion investment plan was seen as the company's last chance to remain afloat, after years of slumping sales in Italy and Western Europe. The job cuts will be made at the money-losing core unit Fiat Auto, truckmaker Iveco and tractor-and-earthmoving equipment maker CNH Global.

He was often called Italy's uncrowned king, the erstwhile playboy who wielded unparalleled power and fortune as he transformed his family car business into one of the largest industrial empires in Europe. Giovanni Agnelli, glamorous patriarch of the Fiat auto conglomerate and an icon in Italian social and cultural history, died at his home in Turin after a long battle with cancer, his family said Friday. He was 81.

After an abusive affair with Germany's Daimler ending in 2007 and a dysfunctional relationship with former owner Cerberus Capital Management that ended with the company in bankruptcy Thursday, can Chrysler learn to love again?

Fiat, Italy's largest manufacturer, agreed to sell its aerospace unit to Carlyle Group Inc. and Finmeccanica for $1.7 billion, as the company raises money to turn around its carmaker. The offer prices FiatAvio at $100 million less than the bid made in April by the U.S. buyout firm and Finmeccanica, Italy's largest defense company, and comes amid consolidation in Europe's aerospace and defense industries.

Fiat shares fell nearly 7% in the wake of the struggling Italian auto giant's announcement of a major restructuring, the departure of its top executive, an earnings warning and plans to raise money by issuing about $3 billion in new stock and bonds. Facing shrinking demand worldwide and a tough economic environment, Fiat said it will spend about $700 million on a restructuring that will leave the company with a net loss for the full year.

Fiat, once Italy's most potent industrial empire and still its biggest employer, bowed to worldwide competition Monday and handed a 20% stake in its auto division to General Motors Corp., forming an alliance to cut costs and seek new markets for both companies. The proposed deal, announced at Fiat headquarters in Turin, capped years of courtship of the proudly independent Italian company, the world's No. 7 auto maker, by nearly all its major rivals. Fiat would get a 5.