New boss takes the controls at Fiat

Italy’s Fiat has a new man in the driving seat from today – his name may be unfamiliar to outsiders but his family pedigree is impeccable.

34-year-old John Elkann is the grandson of the late Gianni Agnelli and his sliding over into the chairman’s seat marks the return of that powerful clan to the top job of Italy’s leading industrial company.

Elkann is expected to take Fiat by the scruff of the neck and instigate a shake-up. A plan for the whole group’s future is to be announced today and its widely tipped Fiat Auto will be split from the rest of Fiat’s industrial interests.

That would leave it ready to tighten its integration with Chrysler but it would not rule out other merger deals.

Copyright © 2012 euronews