Fiat - a Troubled European Car Giant
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, the Italian giant has reached the pinnacle of success in the business world, obtaining deserved awards for many of its products and taking the desirable position of being one of the Europe’s largest companies. Considering the failures of Fiat, this question will derive the problems facing the company’s car division. Based on the Case study, the underlying problems can be listed as follows: 1. Low margins on small cars. 2. Slow adjustment to shorter product life cycles. 3. Failure in reduction of excess capacity. The above underlying problems are reflected in a large variety of important issues that impacted Fiat’s car division during the past century. More specifically, the car manufacturer suffered from commercial problems based not
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, the Italian giant has reached the pinnacle of success in the business world, obtaining deserved awards for many of its products and taking the desirable position of being one of the Europe’s largest companies. Considering the failures of Fiat, this question will derive the problems facing the company’s car division. Based on the Case study, the underlying problems can be listed as follows: 1. Low margins on small cars. 2. Slow adjustment to shorter product life cycles. 3. Failure in reduction of excess capacity. The above underlying problems are reflected in a large variety of important issues that impacted Fiat’s car division during the past century. More specifically, the car manufacturer suffered from commercial problems based not