U.S. car maker Chrysler should see the benefit in the latter part of 2010 from new technology to build cleaner cars given to it by Fiat, and will return to the stock market but not before 2010, the Italian car maker's CEO said.
Sergio Marchionne, who also heads Chrysler now that Fiat has a 20 percent stake, also told analysts on Wednesday that spinning off Fiat's auto business -- including the Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo brands -- was "inevitable," even if the timing remained unclear.
As he presented second-quarter results for Fiat, which showed it back into a trading profit after two quarters of losses, Marchionne said Chrysler's turnaround would come when the U.S. auto market returned to sales of 13-14 million units.
"I think that we are going to see some healthy margins at the 13-14 million (car sales) ... which will not happen in 2010," Marchionne said.
Rival General Motors said on Wednesday July car sales suggested an annual figure in the United States of around 10-10.5 million.
GM said first-half sales slid 22 percent but improved in the second quarter as the U.S. economy showed signs of stability, echoing Fiat's figures, which highlighted a slowdown in sales decline in the second quarter.
Chrysler's new board meets for the first time next week, Marchionne added, and the company has already received Fiat platforms to produce smaller, more fuel-efficient cars -- a strength of the Italian car maker.
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