Fiat (acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino) renewed its commercial cooperation agreement with Itau Unibanco. The deal enabled the Brazilian bank to support the sales operations of the Italian car manufacturer in Brazil. For Fiat, this Latin American country is one of its largest foreign markets outside of its home in Italy. Fiat vehicles are in high demand in Brazil. The car maker is the number one seller of light trucks and cars in the country.
The daily rate of vehicle production slowed to its lowest in five months in July, as consumer confidence in Brazil sagged. As a result, car factories had to decrease output. Despite this, Fiat and Itau Unibanco still renewed their agreement for another ten years.
Fiat's debt rating was downgraded to BB in 2010 by credit rating agency Fitch after amassing a debt of about EUR 9.3 billion. Moody's another credit rating agency, again cut down the carmaker's debt rating to Ba3 in 2013. This time the reason for the downgrade was the lowered European demand. The agency was also concerned that Fiat's debt was falling slower than initially expected. At that time, Fiat's debt load was pegged close to EUR 28 billion by The Financial Times.
Fiat is that largest automaker based in Italy and the sixth largest in the world. The Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Romea, Lancia and Fiat are some of the brands included in its portfolio. Fiat is also a majority stakeholder in the Chrysler Group.
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