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With the sudden death of its director, Sergio Marchionne, and the failure of the merger with Renault, the last 12 months have been a difficult time for Fiat Chrysler.
It has not been easy for the Italian-American car manufacturer, seventh in the world, to cope with rapid changes in the sector due to declining sales and the availability of new models.
Fiat Chrysler does not offer any electric or hybrid models in its collections. One of its flagship models, Fiat 500, was launched for the first time 12 years ago.
"The Fiat Chrysler Group has stabilized financially," said Stefan Reindel, director of the automotive research institute in Germany. "Nevertheless, it is still at the" second level "among car manufacturers.
He identified the main weaknesses of Chrysler, saying that it had "limited sales volumes," "no globalization strategy" and was lagging behind in new technologies.
The company is trying to catch up, as it recently started equipping its historic Mirafiore plant in Turin with equipment to produce 500 electric cars.
Fiat Chrysler sells less than 5 million cars a year and represents more than 90% of its profits in North America, driven by strong demand for its Jeeps, designed for rough roads and deserted roads, semi-trucks (To pick up).
But the company is almost absent from China, the largest car market in the world, loses its vigor in Europe and seems to have once again failed to revive its brand Alfa Romeo.
Alpha sales dropped by more than 40% in Europe in the first half of 2019, and the Fiat brand, which relies heavily on the famous Model 500, lost 10% of its sales.
"In my opinion, they can not continue as well," said Giuseppe Berta, professor of contemporary history at the Bocconi University in Milan and former director of Fiat's archives.
Marchionne – died on July 25, 2018 as a result of a mysterious illness that remained secret until the end of his life – left an important legacy to society.
"Marchetti alone has saved almost two bankruptcies, Fiat and Chrysler," says Gian Luca Pellegrini, editor of Quartorot, the leading Italian automotive magazine.
Marchionne – who has been driving Fiat since 2004 and Chrysler since 2009 – has relaunched two troubled companies: he has created Fiat Chrysler, a global company, but faces risks.
Marcheonne had two main objectives: to invest primarily in new models: to get rid of Fiat Chrysler's debt and find a partner for the merger, he had already managed to reach the first goal, but not the second.
At a popular show in 2015, Marchionne said automakers were wasting a lot of money on research and development and needed to merge to achieve productivity savings and improve their profits.
Marchionne failed in his repeated offers to merge with General Motors. Fiat Chrysler's partner recently merged with Renault as the merger between the two companies was canceled following French resistance.
According to Bertha, former director of the Fiat archives, the merger or alliance with another manufacturer is the only way for Fiat Chrysler to find the resources needed to develop new technologies and new products.
Otherwise, the shareholders will have to finance the investments themselves, but they have been reluctant to do so.
Although it's not really clear who Fiat Chrysler's choice for integration is, many badysts believe that a partnership with a Chinese competitor can help the company finally penetrate on the Chinese market.
The Fiat Chrysler certainly needs to adapt to a harsh environment.
"The next five to ten years will be the most difficult years since the car was invented," says Ferdinand Dodenhofer of the Car Research Center of the University of Duisburg Essen. "Either you merge, or you cooperate, otherwise you will leave the auto market."
Date: 2019-07-27
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