Posted: May 4, 2009

Joining forces with Chrysler was apparently just the start for Italian automaker Fiat. The company is now reportedly in negotiations to buy most of General Motors' European operations, in a bid to become the world's second-largest automaker.

Reuters reports, "A radical overhaul of the car industry moved a step closer on Monday as Fiat's CEO prepared to pitch a bid for Opel to Germany's leaders as part of a planned takeover of General Motors' European assets."

The deal might see Fiat acquire all GM's European operations, according to Autoblog, "including Opel, Vauxhall and even Saab." The Opel brand accounts for 80 percent of GM's European sales.

The New York Times adds, "A combined Fiat, Opel and Chrysler would have annual sales of about 5.5 million units and revenue of about 80 billion euros, or $106 billion." That would make the combined company the world's second largest automaker, behind Toyota.

The deal is far from certain. Reuters notes, "The biggest opposition to a deal is likely to come from German and Italian unions, fearing synergies to be extracted from a merger would lead to job cuts and plant closures."

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