Fiat CEO says must work hard on Alfa brand: report

MILAN (Reuters) - Fiat SpA (FIA.MI) needs to work harder on its Alfa Romeo brand but cannot continue trying to reinvent it, Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne was quoted as saying by magazine Automotive News.

"We need to work a lot harder on Alfa to make an intelligent decision that effectively preserves the highest possible value for Fiat," Marchionne said in the interview, published online on Tuesday on the magazine's website www.autonews.com.

But Fiat must stop trying to reinvent the Alfa brand, he added.

"You cannot be a newborn Christian every four years. It's the same religion, eventually you need to own a religion and carry it to conclusion," he told the magazine.

Marchionne, who is also head of Chrysler CCMLPD.UL where Fiat has a 20 percent stake, said the U.S. car maker had platforms which Alfa Romeo could use.

"Certainly the availability of D and E segment (platforms) in the United States which are capable of being Alfa Romeoized is there. We need to look at the economics of that opportunity," Marchionne told Automotive News.

Marchionne has said he will present Fiat's new strategy following its acquisition of 20 percent of Chrysler in the first quarter of 2010. He announced plans for the U.S. car maker on November 4 in Detroit.

At a presentation to investors in London last week, Marchionne illustrated the expected use and sharing of platforms between Chrysler and Fiat marques.

The slides for the presentation showed that Chrysler platforms could be used for Fiat's large cars, which would include Alfa Romeo.

He ruled out any merger between Alfa Romeo and Chrysler's Dodge brand, saying, "The DNA is completely different. We would lose a lot of the appeal of Alfa Romeo if we try to Americanize it through a merger with Dodge."

Marchionne discussed his plans for car output in Italy with Industry Minister Claudio Scajola on Tuesday.

He has consistently said that the industry must shut capacity in order to cope with falls in demand triggered by the global credit crunch.

(Reporting by Jo Winterbottom; Editing by Greg Mahlich)