The era of independent national carmakers is over, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said Monday.
''The party's over,'' Marchionne told industry magazine Automotive News Weekly, adding that it was ''unthinkable'' that today's carmakers would keep their independence amid the global financial crisis.
''Independence is no longer sustainable,'' he said, stressing that ''financial markets will react with zero tolerance''.
Today's ''unprecedented'' crisis, he said, will compel the car industry into a ''profound rethink which will lead to a consolidation of the sector at a global level in two years''.
