OH NO THEY DIDNT! OH YES THEY DID! Fiat denies Nanjing 3 billion RMB partnership

---

It seems that Nanjing Autos was telling porkies, or at least shooting the gun when it announced earlier today that both Nanjing Autos and Fiat were to invest 3 billion RMB each into its ailing JV partnership. As soon as the Italian Fiat execs woke up this morning, the first thing they did was shoot down the Nanjing Autos press release saying that they had come to an agreement. We heard a collective ‘DOH!’ coming from Nanjing around 8pm this evening.

Fiat SpA has not reached a deal with China’s Nanjing Automobile Corp., the Italian automaker said Monday, denying weekend reports from China that the companies had signed an agreement over their troubled joint venture.

Officials at the Turin-based company said that no deal had been signed and declined to comment further on a Sunday report by China’s official Xinhua news agency that claimed the companies had agreed to invest an additional $400 million each in the joint venture to respond to Fiat (nyse: FIA – news – people )’s demands that Nanjing ramp up production of its cars.

Nanjing Auto wasn’t immediately available to comment.

The two sides are reportedly at odds over a Fiat engine tie-up with a rival Chinese company and because Nanjing Auto has delayed planned investment in the joint venture as it works to resuscitate the MG Rover Group.