Fiat-Chrysler as one, to settle in the Netherlands

DETROIT, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV said Wednesday its new corporate headquarters would be in the Netherlands.

Most of the bets were on the United States or Italy, the respective homes of Chrysler and Fiat which officially became one company this week with Fiat purchasing the remaining shares from the United Auto Workers retiree healthcare trust.

The Italian automaker has been adding shares periodically since it took control of the company in 2009, helping Chrysler emerge from bankruptcy.

The Detroit News said Wednesday that the location of Fiat-Chrysler's headquarters has symbolic importance, especially in Italy, where Fiat has been one of the country's largest industrial concerns for decades.

Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne had suggested the United States had the edge, given better "access to capital markets and the ability to finance operations."

But Marchionne also said the location was largely "irrelevant."

"We live in a world where power travels. It has no fixed abode. The implications for the manufacturing sites, for the level of employment and so on are negligible," he said.

The company said shares will be traded on the New York Stock Exchange and on the Mercato Telematico Azionario in Italy.