Marchionne Won't Close Italian Fiat Plants, Overcapacity Be Damned
Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne vowed he will not close any of Fiat’s six Italian factories, Reuters reports. Actually, he says, he is a victim of circumstance:
“We’re in a dramatic situation here, and I’ve never talked about plant closures, I’ve never said I wanted to leave.”
And what about the awful sales of the new Panda? No, it is not selling because it is a bad car, says Marchionne. “It isn’t selling, because there is no market”.
Fiat Group’s EU sales have been down 17 percent in the first eight months of the year, its home market Italy is down nearly 20 percent. Marchionne led a campaign for communal capacity shedding in Europe, only to attract the ire of mighty Volkswagen.
Reuters says the Italian government will meet Fiat executives on Saturday to discuss Fiat’s strategy for Italy, the government said in a note on Tuesday.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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what happened to his sweater?
Look guys, the new Panda is a good car. The most refined? No. Could it have been pushed further in this redesign? Probably. Its also "only" an A segment so its not like it needs to compete with the big boys on terms of equimpent and refinement. A huge chunk of Fiat sales come from Latin America and developing countries. This car will do just fine there if priced right. Finally, Fiat's sales in Europe are tanking because 1) most their products are very dated, and 2) their strongest markets (Italy) and other Southern countries are collapsing with the recession in Europe.
Oh and Sergio has lost weight and is looking GOOD!
is right. The new Panda does not sell so well because the market is in decline. It 's still the best selling car in Italy with 79.324 cars from January to August. (http://www.slideshare.net/autoblog/mercato-auto-italia-agosto-2012) The real problem is that it has made a promise to increase the models and the labor force, and is now retracting Fiat could export more models in North America and South America, at least they could build the new Punto five-door in Mexico, next to the 500