Word: fiat
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Italy's prosperous Fiat (TIME, Oct. 11). Fiat had hoped to buy more than a 30% share of France's second-biggest carmaker and then try to revive its sinking health...
...Gaulle's ruling on the deal was a somewhat ambiguous "No, but yes." No, Fiat could not buy the Citroen shares from the tire-making Michelin family. But yes, Fiat and Citroen could cooperate, so long as their mutual dealings did not affect "conditions of employment" and the "equilibrium of the auto market in France," That means that little, if anything, can be salvaged from the original deal, The two companies had intended to share manufacturing plants and probably to channel more Citroën work to Italy's lower-wage labor market, They also had planned...
Much to the chagrin of the De Gaulle government, which was caught by surprise when Chrysler took over faltering Simca in 1963, a French solution for Citroën's problem seems remote. Bercot insists that his company will "not fall under Fiat control"-"but what he has negotiated is not too far short of a Fiat takeover. According to the reported agreement, Fiat will buy a 30% interest in Citroën, presumably from the tiremaking Michelin family, which holds 56% of Citroën. Fiat would then reduce Citroën's dangerous $100 million-plus...
...this year, having also started work on a fast, Maserati-powered touring car, Citroën went to the government for $60 million. Bercot was turned down flat, and then was hit by the workers' strikes of May and June. Now, in talking about the proposed deal with Fiat, Bercot presents it as being "productive in bolstering Europe against American competition...
...ITALY is almost overrun with cars, but that has not stopped Fiat from selling more autos in Europe than anyone else ($1,300,000 last year). This year it stands to increase its share of the European market from 20% to 25% if Citroën comes into the fold. At home, sales have fallen off under competition from imports and from government-owned Alfa-Romeo. But Agnelli, Fiat's ardent pan-European, is more than making up for the decline with increased exports. Taking a tip from Detroit, he is bringing out several new models, including the fast...