Word: fiat
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Since he took over as chief executive of Italy's Fiat in 2004, the chain-smoking Canadian Italian has used Apple as a model, focusing on the way Steve Jobs transformed it from an also-ran computer company into a global icon of cool. He encourages Fiat managers to take a close look at Apple's branding prowess and even asks them to benchmark their activities against the company. His biggest success at Fiat is the 500--a tiny, very cool 21st century version of a 52-year-old Italian icon once driven by movie stars such as Marcello Mastroianni...
...Detroit Fiat Takes Control of Chrysler Chrysler's planned alliance with Italian carmaker Fiat was cemented on June 10 after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to the deal brought by Chrysler's creditors and concerned consumer groups. The White House--backed arrangement gives Fiat a controlling stake in the embattled 84-year-old company, which will be called Chrysler Group LLC and could serve as a model for the reorganization of larger rival General Motors, which filed for bankruptcy on June 1. The pact--the latest attempt to salvage America's sagging auto industry--creates...
...hope is that a Chrysler-Fiat alliance will make small, fuel-efficient diesel more acceptable to American consumers, according to a major European-based supplier of engine technology that works with Fiat. Fiat's new diesel, a generation ahead, is quieter and cleaner and burns low-sulfur fuel that would enable it to meet stringent new emissions regulations, he says...
...Fiat also offers Chrysler very competent small cars that could put Chrysler fairly quickly in segments like the fast-growing subcompact market, where sales could grow by a third in the next four years, says Hall. Chrysler's smallest car is the compact Dodge Caliber, which has enjoyed limited success. In addition, the Fiat platforms are flexible enough to accommodate different body styles, from two doors to four doors to hatchbacks and small wagons, he says...
...Finally, the alliance could bolster Chrysler's presence in the highly competitive midsize market. Fiat has an excellent midsize chassis/platform, which serves as the basis for the Alfa Romeo 159. "Chrysler could certainly use that," says Hall, since the struggling American automaker doesn't have the money to develop its own. Hall adds that the Chrysler-Fiat alliance is very likely to expedite Fiat's own plans to reintroduce the Alfa Romeo brand into the U.S. market. Fiat has been eager to bring Alfa Romeo, which now has nine models selling in more than three dozen countries...