ACEA Gives Up on EU-Led Capacity Solution

ACEA Chairman Sergio Marchionne tells Reuters that the trade group's automaker members have agreed to make decisions individually about shuttering plants.

Marchionne, who also is Fiat-Chrysler CEO, has been urging the EU to organize a coordinated reduction of production capacity across Europe. He says the ACEA, whose members met late last week, has "no common position" on his proposal.

German carmakers, whose factories are using more of their capacity than those of competitors in France and Italy, vigorously opposed Marchionne's proposal.

Marchionne and Volkswagen AG executives have been feuding publicly about capacity policy, price discounting and potential acquisitions. In July VW demanded that Marchionne step down from the ACEA post, calling him "unbearable."

Marchionne and VW CEO Martin Winterkorn declared after the ACEA session that they had resolved their disputes. But analysts are dubious, noting that the companies' underlying differences remain.