Reuters (Milan) - General Motors and Italian carmaker Fiat talked briefly about merging their European businesses earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal said on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The talks between GM Chief Executive Dan Akerson and his Fiat counterpart Sergio Marchionne never reached the board of either company because by the time they met GM was already well on the way with its plans for a tie-up with PSA Peugeot Citroen , the paper said.
On Tuesday Marchionne, who also heads U.S. carmaker Chrysler, said the Italian carmaker was open to all potential partnerships, even the newly formed tie-up between Peugeot and GM.
The WSJ quoted a person familiar with the talks as saying Fiat had tried to convince GM it was a better partner than Peugeot.
Fiat and Peugeot, which have an existing joint venture making small commercial vans in Italy, separately discussed an alliance in recent months, the WSJ cited another person as saying.
In February GM and Peugeot announced a global alliance targeting a cut in annual costs of at least $2 billion without plant closures or job cuts in Europe.
