Mr Marchionne drew parallels with what happened in the US industry when the economic crisis hit in 2007 and the government stepped in to bail out automakers. Enforced Chapter 11 bankruptcies, where the state took control, allowed the carmakers to ‘cleanse out the old companies and to re-shape and re-size’, he said.

‘The parallel with Europe is startling. People just aren't buying cars. In Italy last year the market came down to the same number of sales as there were in 1979 – we have lost 33 years of volume growth. Car factories all round Europe are tooled up to deal with volume expectations which just have not materialised.

‘I would like an intervention at a European level and a stop to the unilateral actions being taken in some countries at the expense of others. That is not how a single market should work.’

Mr Marchionne said that the big volume makers are losing billions of euros a year and pointed out that factory closures are already under way – Ford plants in the UK and Belgium, General Motors in Antwerp, PSA Peugeot Citroen in France and Fiat in Italy.

He added: ‘This is a painful process that often favours one market over another.’

Mr Marchionne has been lobbying the EU as chairman of the European carmakers' association ACEA but said he is being ignored.

‘We are selling cars at ridiculously low prices and this cannot continue forever. The EU should act and provide support to help the industry restructure and build a growth agenda.

‘Right now, too many cars are being made and we are selling them at ridiculously low prices and this can't go on forever.’