Marchionne Gets Coy About VW Merger

Last week CEO Sergio Marchionne opined that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV would be a good acquisition for Volkswagen AG. This week VW CEO Matthias Mueller suggested that Marchionne contact him direct to outline his interest.

Now Marchionne says it will be up to Mueller to make the first move.

“I will not call Matthias,” he tells reporters in Detroit, declaring that he has “no interest” in initiating contact. Last week Mueller was equally skeptical before softening his position on Tuesday.

But Marchionne also reiterates his view that FCA is “the only natural combination partner” for VW—if the German carmaking giant wants to buttress its lead as Europe’s largest carmaker.

He suggested last week that VW might want to do just that after PSA Group agreed to buy Opel from General Motors Co. The deal will make PSA a distant second to VW in the region with 16% of the market compared with VW’s 24% share.