Fiat sees better times ahead

TURIN, Italy, March 27 (UPI) -- Fiat Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne said the Italian auto company had come through the worst of the current economic downturn.

"We are convinced that from an economic and global standpoint we have bottomed out and will now begin to rise," Marchionne said.

In a stockholder meeting, Fiat said it would be able to meet its 2009 goal of turning in a $1.3 billion profit for the year, ANSA reported Friday.

Fiat Chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo also saw the company's fortune's rising.

"All sectors of the automotive industry are feeling the first positive effects of the incentives," he said, referring to government programs meant to boost auto sales. "We are witnessing an upturn for the market and a renewal of the fleet of vehicles on the road."

In Italy, the government has initiated a subsidy program to help consumers trade in old cars for new ones.

Marchionne said Fiat was already in the driver's seat, having made changes before the financial crisis set in. "We had already embarked on a policy of innovation and did not wait for a crisis us to dictate change to us," he said.