Shares of Fiat went plummeting today just two days after they were pushed up when the Italian company announced its partnership with Chrysler LLC. Fiat announced on Thursday that its fourth quarter profits fell 69.8 percent due to a slump in demand and the global economic slowdown

Net profits for Fiat were down for the last three months. Full year profit was down 16.2 percent from 2.05 billion euros to 1.72 billion. Revenue was up 1.5 percent from 58.5 billion euros to 59.4 billion due to strong performance in the first three quarters.

Fiat shares fell 14.6 percent after the announcement. It also denied reports that it was considering a capital increase for a merger with PSA Peugeot-Citroen.

Fiat took a 35 percent stake in Chrysler earlier this week. Detroit News reports that the deal could be expanded in the future, giving Fiat full control of Chrysler.

Source: Detroit News