New Fiat

Fiat is an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino. Withoubt doubt, Fiat remains Italy's Number One car maker. It is involved in all aspects of transportation from trains, boats, aerospace to light to heavy vehicles. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of wealthy investors - that group included Giovanni Agnelli - a family name that has been consistently associated with Fiat, throughout its existence. Agnelli's grandson, Gianni was chairman of Fiat from 1966 2003 when he died. Fiat owns and operates brands as diverse as Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Autobianchi, Innocenti, Abarth, Maserati and Ferrari in Italy (but Ferrari is run autonomously). Fiat also owns manufacturing companies in 61 countries around the world through 1,060 separate businesses. General Motors became a Fiat partner in 2000, because it wanted to generate a cost-effective means of developing small car and diesel technology. Vauxhall (and Opel in Ireland and Europe) diesels engines are based on Fiat designs, which have done no harm to GM's reputation. However, the GM partnership was dissolved in May 2005 when GM experienced another financial crisis in N America. GM needed to pay a "divorce settlement", amounting to $2BN Dollars which Fiat subsequently put to good use developing its new range of models. The GM partnership no longer exists, but a development cross-over remains, which means that Fiat uses General Motors platforms for several of its models. Fiat has a remarkable record for winning the annual European Car of the Year, highlighting its generally well designed products with broad market appeal.