Fiat Weighs Adding SUV Production at Melfi Plant

Fiat SpA is rejected the idea of shuttering its car factory in Mirafiori, Italy, Il Messaggero reports, citing a draft of the new business plan the company is set to unveil on Oct. 30.

But the Rome-based newspaper says the new Fiat and Jeep small crossover vehicles that were slated for Mirafiori will be made instead at the company's facility in Melfi, Italy, starting in 2014.

Fiat calls the report "groundless media speculation." The company has said it would begin making the Fiat 500X crossover in Mirafiori at the end of next year and a Jeep mini crossover there in 2014.

Fiat's business plan is expected to include the use of its underutilized factories in Italy to produce Chrysler Group vehicles. The company is likely to build the Chrysler 100 and next-generation Alfa Romeo Giulietta at an assembly plant in Cassino, Italy, according to Messaggero. It says both models will be exported to the U.S.