Fiat Names Alessandro Barberis CEO

MILAN December 13, 2002; Dow Jones reported that Fiat SpA picked Alessandro Barberis as its new chief executive at a board meeting Friday.

Chairman Paolo Fresco remains at his post, and the board chose Franzo Grande Stevens, a long-time lawyer for the Agnelli family that controls the Italian auto maker, as deputy chairman.

Gabriele Galateri di Genola, who stepped down as CEO on Tuesday, fueling rumors that Fresco would be ousted, will remain on the board, Fiat said in a statement.

"In a way this all brings us back to status quo ante a week ago," said Gabriele Gambarova, an automotive sector analyst at Rasbank SpA.

Fiat slipped after the announcements, trading down EUR0.27, or 3.1%, at EUR8.30 at GMT 1518.

Rumors of a major executive shakeup, replete with a new approach to Fiat's money-losing auto division, had rocked the company all week.

Galateri, who had asked to step down as CEO, will also return to the reins of IFI SpA, the financial holding company that handles the Agnelli family fortune, according to Italian media reports.

Barberis, a long-time Fiat manager who was named director-general of the Turin-based conglomerate six months ago, is considered to have a more industrial touch. He has worked at various subsidiaries, including Fiat Auto, whose Brazilian expansion he helped supervise, and Piaggio SpA, the scooter maker he prepared for sale to private buyout firms.

Barberis, who according to Rome-based daily La Repubblica is Galateri's cousin, was Fiat's chief negotiator with the Italian government in labor talks that led to official approval of the company's plans to idle 8,100 workers.

Italian Labor Minister Roberto Maroni was quoted by Italian news agencies as saying Barberis was a "sign of continuity." Earlier, several cabinet officials had indicated they would demand a new round of talks with Fiat if the company's top management changed.