May 6 (Bloomberg) -- Fiat SpA Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne plans to take charge of Chrysler LLC after it emerges from bankruptcy within the 60-day time frame set by President Obama’s administration.

“Chrysler is on track to re-emerge from bankruptcy in 60 days,” Marchionne said in an interview. “I will become Chrysler CEO after that.” The idea has been discussed in meetings with the Treasury, he said.

The Italian carmaker, having come to the rescue of Chrysler, is interested in acquiring Swedish carmaker Saab Automobile as Marchionne tries to assemble a global auto group, including GM’s Opel and Vauxhall operations in Europe and Latin America.

“Saab is an interesting opportunity, the brand is however too small for the auto mass market,” Marchionne said. “We could combine Saab with another brand. In the U.S., there’s a Saab dealership network. It would be a pity to give that up.”

Saab, the Swedish carmaker, sought protection from creditors Feb. 20 after General Motors Corp. said it would sever ties with the unit by 2010 as part of its own reorganization.

While Marchionne has previously expressed his interest in GM’s Opel and Vauxhall brands in Europe, this is the first time he has said he also wants Saab.

Marchionne flew to the U.S. yesterday from Germany, where he held talks with government officials about his interest in creating a pan-European automotive company, by merging Fiat Auto, Chrysler and GM’s European operations, including Saab.

He will meet today and tomorrow with Chrysler executives to work out merger details with the Auburn Hills, Michigan-based company.

First U.S. Fiat

“My goal is to sell the first Fiat 500 in the U.S. by the end of 2010,” Marchionne said.

“We’ve already said we’ve had 10 candidates in Sweden,” said Eric Geers, a Saab spokesman. “If Fiat is joining, that’s just for the better.”

Marchionne said his discussions about Saab, Opel and Vauxhall are being held with GM.

“We’ve had positive discussions with several different parties,” said Chris Preuss, a GM spokesman, declining to identify interested parties.

Marchionne also said Fiat is interested in an as-yet- undefined venture with GM in Latin America and ruled out the Turin, Italy-based automaker’s interest in GM operations in Russia and China.

Fiat’s plan to produce a pickup in Argentina, announced in 2007, with technology from India’s Tata Motors Ltd. didn’t materialize, because Tata’s truck was wrong for that market, he said.

“We have solved the issue with Chrysler’s Dakota pickup model,” he said.

No Cash

Marchionne ruled out spending any cash to combine Fiat with Chrysler and GM Europe.

“I’m ready to offer 100 percent of Fiat’s auto unit -- clean of debt -- and assume Opel’s debt,” he said.

The new auto group would be independent from Fiat SpA, which would keep commercial-truck maker Iveco SpA, CNH Global NV, the maker of agricultural and construction equipment, and luxury-car brands Ferrari and Maserati.

“Including GM Latin America in the deal would be the easiest way to add value to the transaction,” Marchionne said. He admitted that GM is trying to preserve its interest in Latin America, while the two companies are in talks on how to value Fiat’s and GM’s units and what stake of Opel Fiat would get in exchange of its auto unit. “We are still working on that. That’s why we need bankers.”

Not UBS

He said that Citigroup is the frontrunner to get Fiat’s mandate for its GM talks, rather than UBS AG, which was its financial adviser on the deal with Chrysler.

During this trip Marchionne won’t hold meetings with GM or visit Washington as originally scheduled. He is flying back to Germany tomorrow to pursue his pan-European vision.

He will need to reduce overall production with some inevitable job cuts to merge Fiat Auto, Chrysler and GM Europe, he said.

“We would need to reduce the number of plants that could potentially be closed by making them more efficient, while keeping the flexibility to restart them when demand picks up,” Marchionne said.

“For sure there will be a reduction of the headcount because volumes don’t support it,” he said, declining to be more specific.

His plan is to sell shares of the future auto group with an initial public offering in Milan and Frankfurt.

For sure, he is not looking for an alternative plan in case talks with GM fail.

“If Europe doesn’t like our plan we will be happy to continue the job we are doing in the U.S. with Chrysler,” Marchionne said. “I’m already very busy.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Serena Saitto in Southfield, Michigan, at ssaitto@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 6, 2009 17:03 EDT