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Fiat Car Company Fiat found life in Turin, Italy in 1899. It was a perfect time for the setting up of such a technological company. The dynamic social and economical backdrop of the end of the 19th century meant that new and intuitive ideas were gaining ground. The cinamatograph was invented by the Lumiere brothers in 1895, Marconi invented the radio just a year later and aspirin was developed in 1895 by the German, Hoffman. During this time, most of the 32 million inhabitants of Italy were employed in agriculture. Although motoring was taking its first steps and while there had been prototypes at this time, no real car manufacturing exsisted in Italy. This was a far cry from the United States who were showing themselves as the leaders in vehicle manufacture by producing some thousands of units in a year. Fiats founder was a man by the name of Giovanni Agnelli, a former Calvary officer who had got together several investors to find the start up capital. It was his strategic vision and determination that led to him being elected Managing Director of the company in 1905. He led his company right up until his death in 1945. It was his dream to guide the company along the two main lines that have, until this day, remained the characteristics of the company: Diversification of production and attention to more promising markets. It only took a few years after set up for the need to expand the original Turin plant. This initial expansion ensured that Fiat owned workshops covering 50,000 square miles and employed 2,500 people. The first car rolled off production in 1906 and was soon followed by many more models, even going so far as to create a seven seated version of one of them. By the end of the year, Fiat had also launched the production of trucks, busses, marine engines, trams and aircraft engines. By 1908, they had even begun exporting them to countries like Australia and the US. After just one year their sales had risen to 8 million lire, of which no less than six million was achieved in overseas sales. Fiats were the car to be seen in at this time, regarded as a real car of distinction. To give you an idea of this you only have to look at how much a new Fiat bought in the US would cost you. It could range from $3,600 ($73,909 today) to $8,600 ($176,561 today), which seems a lot when you consider that a brand new Ford Model T was costing consumers a measly $825 ($17,000 today). A factory licence to build Fiat cars began production in NY, USA in 1910, the very same year that saw Fiat become the most successful car manufacturer in Italy, retaining that position even today. When the US entered the First World War in 1917, it meant that stringent regulations became too burdensome for Fiat and the NY factory was closed down. During this time, Fiat also had to devote all their production to the war effort, supplying the Allies with engines, aircraft, machine guns, trucks, ambulances and other vehicles. Fiat picked up again after the war ended and normal vehicle production was re-instated. By 1921 however, communism was getting a stronghold on Italy and Agnelli found his company taken over by his workers, hoisting the red communist flag above the factories. Agnelli took this as a sign for his resignation so he quit the company he had helped onto its feet. He gratefully retired to private life, letting his workers try to run the company. Not long after the coup, 3,000 workers descended into his office and begged Agnelli to return to the helm. He reluctantly agreed to, and then set about building the largest car factory in Europe at the time, in Lingotto, near Turin. The Fiat factory, which would become world famous for its rooftop car test track as seen in the film ‘The Italian Job', was specially designed so that the directors of the company were able to drive around the production line and inspect the products without leaving their own vehicle. It was the first Fiat factory to use production lines and the idea to drive around the factory took the drive-in principal to a whole new level. Fiat made a lot of military machinery and vehicles for the Second World War. First supplying the Italian Army and Air Force, and then later, supplying the Germans. In 1945, the year that one of Hitler's greatest allies, Mussolini was overthrown as the leader of Italy, the Italian Committee of National Liberation removed the Agnelli family from any leadership roles concerning Fiat because of their close ties with Mussolini's government. This sanction was upheld right until 1963, when Giovanni's grandson, Gianni took over as the general manager until 1966, and chairman until 1996. His first major port of call within Fiat after he took over was massive re-structuring and re-organising of the company. He decided to re-organise on a production-line basis, splitting the company into two main product groups: passenger cars and trucks/tractors. 1967 saw the company reach new heights when it was able to make its first acquisition when it purchased Autobianchi. This was followed by Fiat in 1969 with the purchase of the controlling interests in Ferrari and Lancia. ‘Newsweek' in 1969 are quoted as saying that Fiat was ‘the most dynamic automaker in Europe ….(and) may come closest to challenging the worldwide supremacy of Detroit.' Fiat's sales in 1967 out stripped Volkswagon, its main European competitor. Just a year later, in 1968, Fiat took control of Citroen, going on to sell it in 1976. Fiat was a conglomerate company at this time, owning Alitalia Airlines, toll highways, typewriter and office machines manufacture, a paint company, electronic and electrical equipment firms, a civil engineering firm and an international construction company. By 1979, they had become a holding company after it spun off its various business into autonomous companies, one of them called Fiat Auto. 1986 saw Fiat acquire Alfa Romeo from the Italian Government and in 1993, they acquired Maserati. Alfa left the American market in 1995 and Maserati re-entered the American market under the Fiat name. Ever since then, Maserati sales have been increasing in the States at a steady rate. Today, Fiat faces an awful amount of threat to the company. From rising steel prices, a strong Euro and increased competition from Japanese and Korean manufacturers. By recently selling off parts of the Fiat company, (the airline, its insurance sector and its engineering plants), they have only just begun to pull themselves out of a financial slump. 2002 was the year when Fiat started to turn around their losses and they have been back on the rise, albeit very steadily, since then. The Grande Fiat Punto model has had a large part to play in the turnaround of Fiats fortunes. Fiat Car Insurance Models124 126500 Barchetta Brava Bravo Cinquecento Coupe Croma Doblo Ducato Grande Punto Idea Marea Multipla Panda |
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