Reuters (Paris) - European carmakers must consolidate in the face of chronic overcapacity and mounting financial losses in a weakening market, the chief executive of Italian car maker Fiat was quoted saying in the Financial Times in its Thursday edition.
"We're going to get tired of the beating -- we've already started to," Sergio Marchionne said, mentioning France's two carmakers -- PSA Peugeot-Citroen and Renault -- and Fiat itself, the paper wrote.
On Wednesday, Marchionne had said on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show that Fiat could bring on board a third partner before any initial public offering of its Chrysler unit.
Overcapacity has led to increasingly fierce price-cutting among carmakers in Europe, also suffering from the financial crisis.
"I sincerely hope my colleagues are honest enough to admit the fact that pricing strategies in Europe are not just sustainable in the medium to long-term," Marchionne told the FT.
He pointed out that General Motors and Fiat were the only carmakers to have closed plants in Europe -- in Belgium and Italy, respectively.
"You have not seen this from the French who have not taken capacity out," he said.
Separately, Frederic Saint-Geours, head of brands at PSA Peugeot-Citroen, told French BFM radio that conditions for a possible alliance with other carmaker were not right at this stage.
