Fiat CEO: Consolidation wave coming

TURIN, Italy, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- The worldwide automobile manufacturing sector will shrink because of the global economic crisis, the chief executive of Italy's Fiat says.

Fiat Group CEO Sergio Marchionne told Automotive News Europe there could be only six survivors in the global automaking sector as plunging new car sales and rising losses trigger a wave of consolidation in the industry.

"By the time we finish with this in the next 24 months, as far as mass-producers are concerned, we're going to end up with one American house, one German of size; one French-Japanese, maybe with an extension in the U.S.; one in Japan; one in China and one other potential European player," Marchionne told ANE.

Marchionne added the only way for companies to survive "is if they make more than 5.5 million cars per year," and at present, only five automakers -- Toyota, General Motors, Volkswagen, Ford and Renault-Nissan -- fall into that category.

"This business is going to be completely different," Marchionne told the publication. "It cannot continue as it did in the past. Independence in this business is no longer sustainable."