The newly merged Fiat-Chrysler group was set Wednesday to announce its 2013 results, along with plans to set up base outside Italy and acquire a new official name.
Italian carmaker Fiat completed its takeover of US-based Chrysler earlier this month, forming the world’s seventh-largest automotive group. It includes brands such as Jeep, Dodge, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Ferrari.
Fiat’s board, meeting in its historic base of Turin, in northern Italy, was widely expected to move the legal headquarters to the Netherlands and elect Britain as its fiscal domicile, mirroring an arrangement adopted last year for truck and tractor subsidiary CNH Industrial.
Fiat-Chrysler was also expected to pick Wall Street as the primary listing for its shares, leaving the Milan stock exchange as a secondary location.
The merger is seen as a major achievement for Fiat-Chrysler’s boss, Sergio Marchionne, who will be able to compensate for Fiat’s declining market share in Europe through Chrysler’s booming sales in the United States.
But the development has also heightened fears in Italy about the loss of Fiat’s Italian identity. In a move that was seen as an attempt to reassure the Government, Marchionne and Fiat President John Elkann met Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta on Tuesday.