Marchionne lays out future of Fiat

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MILAN, Italy, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Fiat's top executive, Sergio Marchionne, Tuesday sketched out his vision for overhauling the Italian automaker to position it for the future.

Speaking in Milan, Marchionne said all new models will be based on Fiat's 500 supermini and Panda city car, The Wall Street Journal reported. The goal, the newspaper said, will be to export more of the Italian cars to the United States and Asia.

The company will get rid of its Punto and Bravo models, and sell some models made by its Chrysler Group LLC unit under the Lancia brand in Italy and Europe, the Journal said.

Fiat intends to come out with five new Fiats models, nine new Alfa Romeos models, six new Maserati models and three new Fiat light trucks in Europe by 2016, the Journal said.

Chrysler, in which Fiat is the majority owner, will develop a new Chrysler car and six Jeep models.

Fiat plans to lay out $2.3 billion each of the next two years as it gears up for the new models, the Journal said.

Fiat said Tuesday its full-year earnings will be at the low end of its forecasts, but offered hope for the future by noting it turned a profit in the third quarter thanks to rising sales in Brazil and Chrysler's solid recovery.