Carmakers Ferrari and Fiat Chrysler are in talks with Italy's biggest ventilator manufacturer to help to boost production of the life-saving machines that are urgently needed in the coronavirus crisis, Reuters cited company officials as saying.

Italy is at the epicenter of the pandemic and its government has embarked on a big expansion of the number of intensive care beds, many of which will require ventilators to keep patients alive by taking over breathing functions.

Siare Engineering in northern Italy, where deaths top 4,000 and are climbing sharply, is in talks with Fiat Chrysler (FCA), Ferrari and Italian parts maker Marelli to make some parts, source others and to possibly help with the assembly of ventilators.

Gianluca Preziosa, Siare's chief executive, said the two industries share some expertise, with both the ventilator business and automakers relying heavily on electronics as well as pneumatics.

Rome has asked Siare to ramp up its monthly production of ventilators from 160 to 500 after the virus crisis has left the country's healthcare system in acute distress, Preziosa said.