Mazda CEO Takashi Yamanouchi said today that the cooperation with the project developers of Fiat is already well-advanced. Several new possibilities would now be looked into to, next to the new MX-5 and Alfa Romeo Duetto, also share other products tecnhique-wise. Whether this concerns the B-segment (successor of the Punto) wasn’t mentioned.

The Japanese CEO said this in Los Angeles, where he probably had a good talk with Sergio Marchionne. The Italian CEO wasn’t willing to comment when asked about other possible shared projects. Yamanouchi was more of in a talking-mood and said something about a good negotiation out of which a win-win situation can grow. Mazda wants to get a grip on the European market and might therefore be considering to build the successor of the ’2′ in Italy. However, this is everything but certain, as this would mean an enormous investment which could only be justified with higher sales numbers. Whatever it may be, this news did a lot of good for Fiat at the auto show today.