Fiat 'must continue to grow,' says Chairman John Elkann

Italian carmaker Fiat has expanded its geographical reach thanks to its acquisition of Chrysler but is still "too small" and "must continue to grow", Chairman John Elkann said on Tuesday. 

"We have been told many times that we have become too big, but these are things that only someone who has no idea of the size of the competition can say. We are too small," Elkann told shareholders at the company's annual meeting. 

Fiat, the world's seventh-largest automaker, sold 4 million cars worldwide and had 84 billion euros in sales in 2012, Elkann said. 

But it has struggled to develop a presence in India, China and Russia. It sold only 103,000 cars in Asia and Pacific markets in 2012. 

Elkann and Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne are due to provide an update on Fiat and Chrysler's performances at a news conference at around 1500 GMT on Tuesday. 

Fiat sees sales at 88 billion-92 billion euros this year, more than half of it from North America, and expects to sell 4.3-4.5 billion cars. 

Last year it sold 2.1 million cars in the US, a million in Europe, and about 980,000 in Brazil but Fiat is losing money on its mass market brands in Europe, where it expects to break even in 2015 or 2016.

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