Fiat Drops After Chief Calls Market `Disastrous’

Fiat SpA, Italy's largest carmaker, dropped to the lowest since September 2006 in Milan trading after Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne forecast a “disastrous'' car market in Italy this month.

Fiat dropped 6.5 percent to 11.75 euros, the lowest since Sept. 11, 2006. That was the stock's biggest decline in almost five months. The shares have slumped 34 percent this year, leaving the Turin, Italy-based company with a market value of 14.4 billion euros ($22.5 billion).

The Italian car market will continue to be weak in June, Fiat's CEO Marchionne told reporters last night in Milan. “It's the same kind of disaster we have seen in May,'' he said.

Car registrations slipped 18 percent in Italy in May, their fifth straight monthly decline. Fiat's sales of its Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Fiat brands fell 13 percent to 66,827 units last month, with the group's market share rising to 33 percent from 31 percent a year earlier. Bloomberg.com