The historic shift was complete with Fiat Industrial's debut on the Milan Stock Exchange. It opened at 9 euros ($12.03). Fiat Industrial includes CNH agriculture and construction vehicles and Iveco trucks.

"This is a very important moment for Fiat, because it represents at the same time a point of arrival and a point of departure," Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said at an opening ceremony at the stock exchange. "Faced with the great transformations in place in the market, we could no longer continue to hold together sectors that had no economic or industrial characteristic in common."

Fiat has forecast the new auto company will have revenues of 64 billion euros by 2014 while Fiat Industrial revenues will be 29 billion euros.

Fiat took a 20 percent controlling share of Chrysler in 2009, and analysts expect the companies to merge although Marchionne said Monday he has no immediate plans to do so. The spinoff is designed to give the two businesses more agility.

Looking for alliances

Marchionne has said he is on the lookout for alliances that will help secure the businesses. He has shrugged off Volkwagen's expressions of interest in the struggling Alfa Romeo sports car brand, which he wants to launch in the United States. On the industrial side, possible partners include Daimler.

Marchionne's ambitious plans to create a global carmaker producing 6 million cars a year by 2014 have been mired in labor disputes in Italy.

Fiat has reached deals for more flexible work rules in two key plants - Pomigliano near Naples and the flagship Turin plant Mirafiori, clearing the way for 2 billion euros in investments.

Marchionne has made the more flexible work contracts - which add shifts and make it more difficult to strike during full production - a condition for his plans to invest a total 20 billion euros in Italy and double car production. Much of that would be badly needed exports.

Marchionne has promised to raise salaries to reflect improved production. But that has not persuaded one union holdout, FIOM, which says the plant-by-plant negotiations are undermining Italy's system of national contracts.

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