Fiat Vice Chairman Confirms Chrysler Deal Decided Thursday Evening

Only one day left until we'll finally find out whether Fiat and Chrysler will finally join their forces for one the largest strategic alliances in automotive industry or continue on their own. And more importantly, Fiat's vice chairman John Elkann says a final decision is expected to be announced tomorrow evening.

"The Chrysler deal will be decided on Thursday evening our time, end of day in the United States. Up 'til the end, we won't have much detail," he was quoted as saying by Autonews. "Today the negotiations are in the hands of the (U.S. government) taskforce ... They are carrying out the negotiations."

Talking about Chapter 11, Elkann refused to comment on the subject but confirmed that Fiat might attempt to form the alliance even if Chrysler go under bankruptcy protection.

"Chapter 11 is a term that implies many possibilities, we will need to see what the possibilities will be. We will need to be patient until Thursday," he said.

What's interesting is that Sergio Marchionne, Fiat's CEO, didn't rule the possibility to see Chrysler going bankrupt and even told CAW President Ken Lewenza that this is likely to happen on Thursday.

"He said: 'You know, Ken, a lot of things can happen in two days, but if I was a betting man, I would suggest Chrysler is going to fall into Chapter 11,'" he said paraphrasing Marchionne. "We may need to do that, regardless of all the bondholders and stakeholders coming to the pump. There's still a lot of work that has to be done, but the Canadian plants are about as well positioned as you could possibly be."