Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Iveco are all heading stateside, with the former set to begin manufacturing locally within three years, as Fiat Group cranks up plans for a major assult on the North American market, according to Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne.

Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Iveco are all heading stateside, with the former set to begin manufacturing locally within three years, as Fiat Group cranks up plans for a major assult on the North American market, according to Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne.

Marchionne has been quoted today by Financial Times, and he told the respected financial newspaper that Fiat Group was talking to the three big carmakers in Detroit to find a partner to help it manufacture Alfa Romeo models in North America from 2011 or 2012. "I've always had the view that we had to produce in America," he told FT, adding: "Nobody making anything in Europe is going to make profits in the US. You can't. So we need to localise."

With Ford, General Motors and Chrysler all suffering from excess production capacity within many of their plants as their volumes continue to suffer, Marchionne is expected to secure a deal to use an existing facility to assemble several Alfa Romeo models, including the forthcoming X-Over. Marchionne didn't reveal in the interview who he was talking to, but said: "You don't even need a full hand to count them, so let's assume that we know them all and we talk to them from time to time about a variety of options."

In the meantime he reaffirmed on-going plans to re-launch the Alfa Romeo brand in North America next year, almost a decade and a half since it withdrew from the market. In the period between the re-launch next year and local assembly beginning, Alfa Romeo will absorb the losses generated by importing cars against the unfolding backdrop of the weak US dollar. "I can suffer the loss initially, as long as I know I'm going to be producing enough," he told FT.

Iveco, the Fiat Group's trucks-to-buses division, will gear up for its own stateside arrival with the help of the Group's construction and agricultural unit CNH Global. CNH Global is the world's second largest agricultural equipment manufacturer, and third largest for construction equipment, and is headquartered in Illinois. Iveco will use the Case-New Holland distribution network across North America to build up to its launch.

Fiat Group has talked to potential partners previously and considered making an acquisition in order to facilitate Iveco's US arrival, with much rumour linking the Italian firm to Navistar International, but Marchionne has ruled this out for the time being, although in the interview, he leaves the door open for a future acquisition or merger.

Finally, the Fiat 500 is to head across the Atlantic. Since its launch last summer the 500 has become Europe's most talked about car and swept up the most coveted accolade of all, the Car of the Year award. To cope with the huge demand, production at the Tychy, Poland factory where it is built is being expanded to 190,000 units this year, as the small car shatters all sales predictions.

Now Marchionne wants to follow the bountiful path trodden by another highly successful recent small lifestyle car, BMW's new Mini, which ably reinvented the Mini theme, much in the way the the new 500 has built on the legend of its predecessor. The Mini has also been a big hit across the Atlantic, and in the interview the Fiat CEO says that they "need to replicate the Mini phenomenon in the US."