In the six weeks since Fiat SpA and Chrysler Group LLC concluded their alliance, the new partners have moved quickly to integrate their automotive operations.

Fiat has delivered underpinnings for a minicar to Chrysler, which will in turn provide mid- and full-size car platforms to the Italian carmaker, Sergio Marchionne, CEO of both Fiat and the new Chrysler Group, said on Wednesday.

Marchionne, who now spends close to half his time in Auburn Hills, said he had installed a strong management team at Chrysler, and the integration process was under way.

"I'm very confident the measures we're putting in place will pull Chrysler out of the crisis that it found itself in," he said on a teleconference to discuss Fiat's second-quarter financial results.

He said the impact of the technology transfers would start to show up in 2010. The deal is mutually beneficial, he said, adding that the expertise in mid-size and larger cars that Chrysler was contributing had been underestimated.

A reluctance to share technology across brands had been a handicap in the failed Daimler-Chrysler merger.

Marchionne said he was confident that Chrysler, which recently emerged from a government-assisted bankruptcy, would recover. "I have no doubt that Chrysler will be profitable," he said, but didn't specify when.

Chrysler, which was sold by Daimler AG to Cerberus Capital Management LP in 2007, sought help from the U.S. government last year after nearly running out of cash.

As a condition for further aid, the government told Chrysler to pursue a deal with Fiat. The two finalized their strategic alliance on June 10, with Fiat taking an initial 20-percent stake.

But Fiat assigned that stake a book value of zero, so "we will not be booking losses" from Chrysler's results, Marchionne said.

Although the Fiat boss has a strong reputation after restoring the Italian carmaker, analysts say the partners face enormous challenges. "They don't have any time to lose," said Aaron Bragman at the consulting and forecasting firm IHS Global Insight.

By most counts, he said, Chrysler has few new products coming out in the next couple of years -- a Dodge Ram Heavy Duty pickup, facelifted Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 cars, and a Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV.

"To get new Fiat product will take a year or two," Bragman said. "There's an extraordinary urgency at Chrysler."

Marchionne said he was reluctant to discuss Chrysler's situation at length ahead of its first board meeting next week. The directors are scheduled to meet for three days "to try and address Chrysler's future," he said.

In addition to Fiat, Chrysler's shareholders are the United Auto Workers' Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association, with 55 percent, the U.S. Treasury, and the Canadian government.

Fiat may increase its stake in Chrysler by achieving certain targets, and it could acquire a majority holding after the U.S. government has been repaid.

Fiat, a Turin-based company that also has truck, construction equipment and other businesses, reported a second-quarter loss of 168 million euros, or $238 million, after sales at most of its businesses plunged.

But Fiat expects its results to improve during the second half of 2009, and Marchionne reiterated his forecast for a small profit for the company for the full year.

Fiat has envisaged spinning off its automotive operations as a separately listed company.

"It is my view that that move is inevitable," Marchionne said, but he said the timing was unclear.