EUROPEAN STUDIES
FIAT:
A TROUBLED EUROPEAN CAR GIANT
GROUP 3:
1
Q1: What are the underlying problems facing Fiat’s car division? The performance of Fiat – the Italian vehicle manufacturer – has fluctuated drastically between its founding in 1899 and today. On the one hand, the company has suffered severe failures, flirting with insolvency on multiple occasions. On the other,…show more content… On a more positive note, in 2004 Sergio Marchionne was appointed as CEO of the Fiat Group and Corporation, Marchionne started a slow-‐moving restructure that resulted in significant success as sales increased to 852,000 cars in 2006, revenues increased by 21% to $14.8 billion, and operating profit increased to $184 million.2 In fact, Fiat was pronounced Europe's fastest-‐growing automaker in 2006. Furthermore, in the first half of 2006 Fiat's vehicle sales shot up by 20.1%3 in a flat European market, helping the Italian auto maker grab back lost European market share which stood at 7.7%4 at the end of 2006 (up from 6.5% in the first half of
