Star 60 adds Fiat, drops GM

BusinessRockford.com Staff Reports

Turin, Italy-based Fiat SpA has been added to the Register Star’s Star 60 stock index, which tracks publicly traded companies important to the Rock River Valley.

Fiat is a minority owner of Chrysler Group LLC, which has an assembly plant in Belvidere that employs about 1,700 people. Chrysler is now owned by Fiat, the United Auto Workers and the U.S. and Canadian governments, but Fiat is running the company.

Fiat is traded over the counter — its stock is traded on various European exchanges — in the United States under the symbol FIATY. The company had $83.7 billion in sales in 2008 and nearly 200,000 employees. The stock was trading at $10.39 in mid-morning trading. It’s stock reached a high of $18.70 last July and a low of $4.30 in March.

Fiat replaces General Motors Corp. on the index. GM has been on the Star 60 since it was created in 1989, but the Detroit-based automaker shut down its landmark plant in Janesville, Wis., in December.

At its peak, the Janesville plant employed 7,000 people but was down to 1,200 when it was closed.

PAST COVERAGE
Special report: Chrysler's bankruptcy
June 29: Fiat 500 might be built in Belvidere
June 23: Belvidere crew officially employed by Fiat
June 10: Fiat closes in on Chrysler's good assets

ON THE WEB
Edmunds.com road tests 2010 Fiat 500C convertible
Wikipedia: The Belvidere Chrysler plant
Fiat: The 500C has arrived

AP INTERACTIVES
Graphics examine Chrysler, Ford, GM

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