Marchionne: No Bids for FCA So Far

CEO Sergio Marchionne told reporters on Saturday that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV hasn’t received any offers to buy the company and is not working on a deal to sell itself, Reuters reports.

Speculation about a possible sale of all or part of the company surged last month after China’s Great Wall Motor Co. declared a desire to buy FCA’s Jeep brand. The company backed away a day later from its vow to submit a bid, citing “big uncertainties” about its ability to finance such a deal.

Marchionne says management is focused instead on a plan to “purify” FCA’s portfolio by removing such non-core operations as components production to make the company a more attractive merger candidate. He aims to complete that process by the end of 2018.

Earlier reports also suggested FCA might spin off its Alfa Romeo and Maserati luxury brands, much as it did with Ferrari in 2015. But Marchionne says doing so would be “almost impossible” until both brands become strong enough to stand on their own. He doubts that moment will come until after he retires from FCA in April 2019.