RUMOURS of merger talks between BMW and Fiat have been dismissed as total invention. Both The Economist and The Guardian published reports of high-level talks between the two companies, but these have been denied.

Bob Hoare, corporate communications manager with Fiat, said: 'There have been no talks and are not likely to be any. There is simply no truth in it. I can safely deny all of these rumours. Merger seems to be the word on everyone's lips at the moment, we are not even in talks with BMW never mind looking at a merger.'

A BMW spokesman from its head office in Munich, Germany, added: 'This is complete rubbish. Normally we would not comment so strongly, but the article was made up of pure rumour and speculation. BMW was very surprised to see it in a publication as well respected as The Economist.'

This is the latest in a series of potential mergers to hit the headlines, with the month already seeing Volkswagen announce it was in talks with Volvo, and Daimler merge with Chrysler.