It was perhaps no surprise UBS picked up the mandate to advise Italian vehicle manufacturer Fiat on its proposed rescue of US counterpart Chrysler. After all, Fiat’s chief executive Sergio Marchionne is non-executive vice-chairman on the Swiss bank’s board of directors.

However, the fact that German group Volkswagen is in line to use UBS on its merger with Porsche, announced last week, is a welcome coup for the bank which, despite internal difficulties, remains the go-to bank for M&A advice in the sector.