Sergio Marchionne has denied that he has plans to buy into Ferrari after stepping down as Fiat president.
The Italian-Canadian has already announced that he will retire as Fiat Chrysler chief in April of 2019, because "I want to do something else".
But he will remain in charge at Ferrari until at least early 2021, triggering rumours the Fiat exit could in fact be because he wants to buy the fabled Maranello marque.
"All noise," Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport quotes him as denying.
Referring to Ferrari, he said: "It’s good that we are optimistic. We will try to win the world championship, make a lot of money and we’ll all be happy."
Marchionne said another big objective for 2018 is to continue to build the profile of Alfa Romeo, the new Sauber title sponsor.
"Alfa Romeo is unfinished business," he said. "We must continue to ensure that the brand is established internationally."