Fiat will bid for Bertone's dormant contract manufacturing unit

Fiat S.p.A. confirmed it will make a non-binding offer to buy struggling Italian contract manufacturer Carrozzeria Bertone S.p.A.

Fiat's offer is one of five for the dormant coachbuilder. The others bidders include Italian entrepreneurs Gianmario Rossignolo and Domenico Reviglio, Chinese automaker FAW Group Corp. and an unnamed Spanish consortium.

The deadline to make bids for the Bertone unit is July 16.

Italian bankruptcy court administrators plan to name the winning bidder by the end of the month.

Fiat declined to say what it plans to build at Bertone's Turin factory, which has an annual capacity of 70,000 units in two shifts. With three shifts, capacity could reach 100,000 units a year.

Italy's oldest contract manufacturer stopped volume production in December 2005.

Rossignolo has submitted a new bid for Bertone. His plan to make an aluminum sports car at Bertone was halted at the end of 2007 by a rival bid from Reviglio's company Keplero, which wants to use the plant to make low-emissions passenger cars, vans and trucks.

The Italian media have reported that FAW is bidding for Bertone. FAW is one of China's largest automakers. It has joint ventures in China with Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor Corp. FAW also has a license to produce cars for Daihatsu and Mazda.

FAW does not sell or build cars in Europe.

Bertone still employs about 1,140 people, down from the 1,450-person work force it had at the end of 2007.

By Luca Ciferri- Automotive News