Fiat won't offer subsidies to Chinese dealers

Shanghai, April 11 (Gasgoo.com) Fiat Group China will not offer any subsidies to Chinese dealers, said a senior official from the former Nanjing Fiat, a joint venture between Fiat and China's Nanjing Auto. 

"Because of our unfavorable financial conditions, we did and will never offer any subsidies to dealers," Jing Boqing, business director of Nanjing Fiat, told Jinghua newspaper recently.

Jing said that currently some 32 Fiat dealers is willing to stay to sell imported models, and only ten dealers agree to sell SAIC models in future.

China's Nanjing Auto terminated cooperation with Fiat after SAIC bought Nanjing Auto in the biggest-ever tie-up between Chinese vehicle makers in December 2007. Nanjing Auto just completed assets transfer to SAIC earlier this week.

The Italian automaker is facing a dilemma in China now. After breaking up with Nanjing Auto, Fiat has found itself with no cars to sell in the Chinese market for the time being. Fiat will have to rely on some imported models to maintain its presence in China, one of the world’s fastest growing markets.