Frankfurt, Germany - VW has pulled the plug on its planned technology-sharing deal with Maserati since Fiat decided to align the luxury Italian brand with Alfa Romeo.
VW's chairman, Bernd Pischetrieder, told the Financial Times on Wednesday at the Geneva auto show: "It is true. It didn't work out."
Under the deal, signed in September 2003, VW intended to offer Maserati access to its technology, distribution network and bank but the proposed alliance ran into trouble after Pischetsrieder delayed plans to launch the so-called C1 car, which would have made use of the co-operation for its axle, FT said.
The newspaper's German-language sister publication, FT Deutschland, quoted Alfa Romeo's new chief Karl-Heinz Kalbfell as saying that an alliance had become "superfluous" now that Fiat had decided to combine Alfa and Maserati under one roof.
"As part of the Gruppo Lusso, Maserati has plenty of opportunities of which we will take advantage," Kalbfell said.
Nevertheless, it was still possible that VW's luxury brand Audi and Maserati would exchange technical components, he added. - Sapa-AFP