Fiat Chrysler finalizes headquarters in London

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s global headquarters will be located in London.

The automaker, created from the upcoming merger of Chrysler Group LLC and parent company Fiat SpA, has agreed to lease three floors of a building in the city’s West End business district, said Richard Gadeselli, Fiat vice president of international corporate communications.

Gadeselli, in an email, said the facility will be the corporate offices for both FCA and CNH Industrial NV, a commercial-vehicle producer spun off from Fiat in 2011. Employees are expected to move in to the building at the end of the year.

The company would not release how many employees are expected to occupy the floors or any other details. Fiat has had corporate offices in the same London area for more than 40 years.

When the merger was announced in January, Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said the headquarters for the new company would be located in the United Kingdom, but did not provide a specific location.

The London headquarters was chosen for tax purposes and to avoid political controversy in the automakers’ current home countries. Chrysler — founded in the U.S. in 1925 — was part of the $85 billion automotive bailout using U.S. taxpayer money, and Fiat was founded in Italy in 1899.

Marchionne has continually downplayed the significance of a “headquarters,” saying many executives have worked between Auburn Hills and Italy for years.

The finalized headquarters comes less than a month before the merger is finalized. Shares will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 13.