FCA Chairman and Agnelli family
heir John Elkann said Thursday that he is not worried about
legal action General Motors has presented against the
Italian-American carmaker.
The case regards alleging corruption involving the United
Auto Workers trade union.
GM says late FCA chief Sergio Marchionne resorted to bribes
to corrupt labour contract talks for many years.
Bloomberg on Thursday quoted an analyst as saying GM would
seek as much as six billion dollars in damages from the action.
"We will address the suit attempted by GM, which does not
worry us, at the appropriate venue," Elkann told reporters
during a Investor Day for Exor, the Agnelli family holding
company.
"I'm sorry that false accusations are being made about a
person like Marchionne, who cannot defend himself".
He said the case will not affect FCA's plan to merge with
PSA Peugeot to create the world's fourth-biggest carmaking
group.
"The way our teams are working encourages me to think that we
will have a memorandum of understanding by the end of the year,"
he said.
Earlier on Thursday, FCA released a statement blasting GM's
action.
"Fiat Chrysler Automobiles confirms that it will defend
itself vigorously against the lawsuit filed yesterday by General
Motors," the statement said.
"FCA believes General Motors' claims are nothing more than a
meritless attempt to divert attention from that company's own
challenges.
"This astonishing ploy comes at a time when FCA is proving
itself to be an ever more formidable competitor that continues
to create significant value for all its stakeholders through the
successful implementation of its long-term strategy.
"This includes the proposed merger with PSA, which itself
completed the successful turnaround of the European businesses
it acquired not long ago from General Motors.
"FCA will deal with this extraordinary attempt at distraction
through the appropriate channels and will stay focused on
continuing to deliver record results while realizing an exciting
vision for the future of the industry.
"FCA is confident that it will prevail in defending itself
against these claims in court and will also pursue all available
remedies in response to this groundless lawsuit".
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