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Although Renault have joint ventures and plenty of operations around the globe they are part owned by the French government and that government are keen to hold
by Theodores 7y ago
Although Renault have joint ventures and plenty of operations around the globe they are part owned by the French government and that government are keen to hold on to their auto sector. Their sector is different to what the German marques chase on the international stage, however, French cars are very popular in France. Whatever government is in Paris they are obligated to defend the French auto sector, they would be very unpopular if they did not.
Meanwhile, what does FIAT make in Italy these days?
FIAT get cars made in the former Eastern Europe, slap an Italian flag on and pass off the product as having Italian design. That is what motorists buy into, the Italian style and not the Italian workmanship. They don't care if the tin box is made in Timbuktu, so long as it expresses their personality in some way then they will buy it.
Italy has gone the way of the British auto sector, they have lost the ability to have Italian companies making mass market cars in actual Italy. Sure there are few thousand Ferraris and other lifestyle accessories churned out but those FIAT 500 cars for the ladies are not made in Italy. Those days are over.
Aside from the poor communication between Renault and Nissan, the proposed deal strikes me as over pushed by the FCA management. It went down with the French establishment as well as the post-Brexit British idea of outsourcing the NHS to American private healthcare providers. A complete non-starter because the management was not a cultural fit. Having Renault thrown in with some brash American led FCA was not on the table. The publicity for the merger was over-eager, as if that would make it happen by making it appear the deal was as good as done.
It is important to understand how the 'captains of industry' work. They are capitalists, not Marxist social workers. They don't care about making jobs or even delivering a product for the regular working/middle class person. They are not cast from the same stuff as Henry Ford. They get their bonuses for merger and acquisition activity and move on to the next deal.
- Camillo 7y ago> Meanwhile, what does FIAT make in Italy these days? Quite a bit, it turns out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Fiat_Group_assembly_sites https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Fiat_Group_assembly_si...
- Theodores 7y agoThe Panda and the 500x. Those are the two models FIAT make in Italy with the FIAT badge on them. The wider group makes Maserati and you don't see many of them in your supermarket car park. The 500x is not to be confused with the multitude of other 500 models. As in the ones you actually see. As for the Panda: "The decision to manufacture the car in Italy, instead of manufacturing it with the cheaper workforce in Tychy, Poland, was taken because of the agreement between Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and Fiat directors not to close down any of Fiat's plants in Italy." Almost forgot about the Ducato van. This gets more interesting as it is a joint venture with PSA. There are Peugeot and Citroen versions so exactly how a merger would work out with Renault could be interesting. Renault partner with Mercedes in the category. So a few thousand Maserati things, the vans and a few cars kept being made in Italy so as to keep the government happy. It's a lot but not a lot. Anyway, it is just final assembly we are talking about. Where do the components come from? The final bit of putting the jigsaw puzzle is what we all think a car factory is but there is always 10x the jobs in the component suppliers. Get rid of the factory though and the local demand for the components is gone. I suspect all the components business for FIAT has moved over to Poland and elsewhere for the same reasons - people don't have rentseekers demanding vast sums out of them every month in these 'lower wage' economies.
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- Camillo 7y agoThe Panda is the top-selling car in Italy by a huge margin. http://listino.motori24.ilsole24ore.com/auto-prezzi/classifiche/le-auto-piu-vendute-in-italia/ http://listino.motori24.ilsole24ore.com/auto-prezzi/classifi... And the 500X is the best-selling version of the 500.