The work to establish the working group on advancing cooperation between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Belarus has been nearly completed. The statement was made by Dmitry Yegorov, Director of the Belarusian car assembly enterprise Unison, during the presentation of the first Belarus-made business-class sedan Peugeot 508 on 22 September.
According to the source, the working group in charge of advancing cooperation with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is virtually ready. “Once the first session takes place, we will know where to move on,” said Dmitry Yegorov.
According to the executive, it is too early to talk about specific investments and the possible model range. “The process has just begun. It is too early to talk about any specific decisions. But just like any enterprise we are interested in raising the output. It is necessary to think about the future now. Plans need time to bear fruit in automobile business. For instance, negotiations with Peugeot took 1.5 years. Negotiations with General Motors took over a year. This is a complicated and lengthy process,” he remarked.
BelTA reported earlier that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) intends to set up two assembly enterprises in Belarus. Premises of the joint venture ZAO Unison, BelavtoMAZ, and other companies may be used for projects involving Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA Group) is a major automobile manufacturer that was established after FIAT was merged with American Chrysler. The company is the world's seventh largest automaker. The company is headquartered in Netherlands while the financial center is located in the UK.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles operates via two primary daughter enterprises — FCA Italy (Fiat Group Automobiles in the past) and FCA US (previously Chrysler Group). The concern works with many famous automobile brands, including Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Jeep, Lancia, Ram Trucks, Abarth, Ferrari, Maserati, and other ones.
Located in the village of Obchak, 10km away from Minsk, the car assembly enterprise Unison was established in 1996 as a Belarusian-British joint venture Ford Union. In 2000 it was reincorporated into the private joint-stock company (ZAO) Unison. For over 15 years the company has been assembling a number of automobile brands, including Ford, KIA, and Samand.
Source: BelTA