Fiat chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo called on Wednesday on EU governments to support their auto industries to ensure they remain competitive with US automakers.

`If the US government becomes GM`s (General Motors`) principal stockholder, Europe cannot stand idly by,` Montezemolo said in an interview published by the daily La Repubblica.

But he warned against a scattershot approach, saying: `Europe must find a common recipe for stimulating the automobile industry, (which) represents a significant segment of the continent`s GDP, especially in countries such as Germany, France and Italy.`

If Washington bails out the US auto industry, `what will happen if we remain immobile is a change in the rules of competition that will heavily penalise the industry of the Old Continent,` the Fiat chief said.

The US auto industry is seeking 25 billion dollars (20 billion euros) in loans needed to cope with collapsing sales.

Detroit`s Big Three -- GM, Ford and Chrysler -- were set to press their case before a House of Representatives panel later on Wednesday.

Fiat said late last month that its results for 2008 would be at the lower end of forecasts and that the world financial crisis would cut deeply into its profits in 2009.

The company has carried out several weeks of work suspensions since October.