Fiat to jump into bed with BMW, too? - United Bimmer Community

**scooter** · 01-28-2009, 04:40 PM

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Dang. We've all met our fair share of individuals who get around, but Fiat seems to be taking things to new levels. Aside from its various joint ventures in emerging markets, the Italian automaker was first in bed with General Motors. That fell apart a while ago already, but now they've jumped into the sack with Chrysler. A partnership with ally Tata's Jaguar subsidiary was also rumored to be in the mix, while French auto group PSA could join in on the action, too. But the latest reports suggest that Fiat is preparing to announce another partnership, this time with BMW.

The partnership is expected to involve Fiat borrowing the platform from either the 1 Series or the MINI for Alfa Romeo's upcoming replacement for the 147 hatchback. Previous reports placed the two automakers potentially partnering on a new platform, while teaming up for sales of Alfa Romeos in North America, and but the latter will fall on Chrysler's shoulders now. Codenamed 149, the five-door counterpart to the front-drive MiTo was expected to employ Fiat's new C-Evo platform, but a switch to the MINI platform could save it the trouble, while the BMW 1 Series' architecture could put Alfa back on the rear-drive performance map.

[Source: Car and Driver via eGMCarTech]Fiat to jump into bed with BMW, too? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 08:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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