Iveco could resume talks with Tata soon - report

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Sun, May 18 03:49 PM

MILAN (Reuters) - Iveco, the truck maker owned by Italy's Fiat, expects to resume talks soon with India's Tata on possible accords, the unit's chief executive, Paolo Monferino, told Il Giornale newspaper.

"On (Tata's) part, there was a brief halt connected with the closure of the acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover. Soon, though, talks will restart," Paolo Monferino said in an interview published by the newspaper on Sunday.

He said Iveco and Tata were looking at deals in Latin America, South Africa and southeast Asia for joint development of lorries and heavy goods vehicles.

Fiat has a joint venture with Tata for manufacturing and distributing cars, engines and commercial vehicles.

Monferino said Iveco was currently working at near full capacity and that "if the market continues to rise this strongly in the next few years, our production capacity could feel the impact."

He said in Russia, there were many options for Iveco in heavy vehicles but it was unlikely to work in that sector with Samotlor, its partner in light commercial vehicles there.

"I don't think it could be our partner in heavy goods vehicles," Monferino said.

"We could develop ... with our own strengths and we are capable of setting up a distribution network from nothing ... there are many options, including with Severstal, which is already a partner of Fiat," he said.

Monferino added that Iveco was not a takeover target. "I don't feel someone's prey ... we feel like big international players."

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