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GM's
board rebuffed a merger proposal from the Italian-American
carmaker earlier this year. The rejection has not stopped
Marchionne from working on the plan and lobbying GM investors in
an effort to drag the GM board to the negotiating table, sources
told Reuters in June.
In an interview published on Sunday on the website of Automotive
News, Marchionne said he had studied every detail of a deal that
would result in "cataclysmic changes in performance" but had not
been able to start a discussion with GM.
"It would be unconscionable not to force a partner," he said.
The issue facing the FCA board at present was that "an attack on
GM, properly structured, properly financed, ... cannot be
refused. You can play hardball to a point," Marchionne said.
"It's too big to ignore," he added.
Asked whether this meant FCA was considering a hostile takeover,
Marchionne said: "Not hostile. ... There are varying degrees of
hugs. I can hug you nicely, I can hug you tightly, I can hug you
like a bear, I can really hug you. Everything starts with
physical contact. Then it can degrade, but it starts with
physical contact."
Marchionne said FCA had received approaches from other potential
partners that would be interested in discussions, but GM
remained by far the preferred option.
"There are people who are interested in doing deals. I'm not
interested in doing deals with them ... because there's a better
deal," he said.
(Reporting by Valentina Za; Editing by Susan Fenton)
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