Munich - German carmaker BMW and its Italian rival Fiat disclosed Tuesday that they were studying whether to link up to make a small car that could be marketed as both a Mini and an Alfa Romeo.

The announcement, issued in Munich and in Turin, said a cooperation deal between the two marques to share "platforms and components" was conceivable. Mini is BMW's bottom-of-the-range brand.

The firms said they had already signed a declaration of intent but would not be releasing any more details yet. They would disclose by the end of the year how far the talks had proceeded.

Platforms and components are car-industry terms for bodies and major mechanical parts such as engines. Shared-platform cars can be made in a single factory but given distinctive trim so that they appear to belong to two completely different ranges of cars.

The announcement quoted Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne saying the move was a major step in Fiat's alliances strategy. Fiat returned to profit three years ago after falling deep into crisis. (dpa)