Fiat will increase its stake in Chrysler to 30 per cent level within days, the Italian auto giant’s chief executive officer Sergio Marchionne said yesterday.

“There are just a few details to be ironed out, which do not depend on us,” Mr Marchionne told journalists at Balocco, near the northern city of Turin, adding that it could happen “in the coming days” and possibly as early as today.

During his comments made at the unveiling of a new Jeep model, the Fiat chief also denied press reports that the launch of Alfa-Romeo in the United States could be delayed until 2013.

Last week Mr Marchionne said that the increase in Fiat’s stake in Chrysler to 30 per cent from the current 25 per cent would happen “within the next 30 to 60 days”.

He added then that the auto giant was likely to raise its stake again to 35 per cent before the end of the year.

In January, Fiat increased its stake in Chrysler to 25 per cent from 20 per cent as part of a deal signed after the iconic US auto brand emerged from bankruptcy in 2009.

The five-percent increase was made possible after Chrysler announced that it would begin production of new Fiat-designed Fully Integrated Robotised Engines (FIREs) at its plant in Dundee in the US state of Michigan.

According to the takeover terms, Fiat can raise its stake to 30 per cent once Chrysler has reached a certain level of sales outside the US, Canada and Mexico.

Mr Marchionne, who also heads up the US auto company, said in January that Fiat may boost its holding to 51 per cent before a planned share offer by the Chrysler Group at the end of this year.