Fiat is an Italian automobile manufacturing company that was established in 1899 in Torin, Italy. It is an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino in Italian. The world's ninth largest carmaker has revenue more than 35 billion euro. Other than automobiles, the company also manufactures military vehicles, aircraft engines and railway engines and carriages.
The company has presence all over the world which includes the United Kingdom also. It has been in the UK since 1903 when it established it first commercial vehicle; the 24 horse power.
Fiat has a 12% market share in the automobile market in the country. The most popular of the Fiat vehicles was the Fiat Ducato. The company works on the principle of professionals helping professionals; this displays the impression they have about their customers whom they consider professionals too. The company has been awarded with several recognitions in the automobile sector in this part of the world. The head office in UK is located in Berkshire. In 2009, Fiat was named the lowest CO2 emitting vehicle in the Europe. Fiat UK, claims it has been consistently concentrating more on research and development in the region that has culminated into cutting edge innovative vehicles like Start&Stop, MultiJet and eco: Drive.
The company in the race of being competitive also recognizes the need to constantly update not only in terms of quality, style and innovation but also in terms of duty towards preservation of environment. The core values with which Fiat UK moves ahead are ‘Leading People' and ‘Leading Change' since they believe without the knowledge, dedication, drive and creativity of the employees it would never be possible to grow. Competition is again an extreme threat when it comes to automobiles and UK is no different when it comes to large number of players in the automobile market. Though Fiat is not the topmost preferred car in the Europe, yet the sales figures it has achieved is on the higher.
Again, Fiat not only depends on revenues from the car manufacturing area. It has other revenue generating areas which perform a lot better than the sale of cars. It has been the largest and the best performing company in the manufacture and sale of car, rail and aircraft engines. But it has to look upon increasing the popularity of its cars in Europe by implementing appropriate marketing strategies.
Will Fiat take the necessary steps to do so or will it depend on its regular sale of engines?
[...] ➢ Supplier and vendor breach of contract will hamper inventories and disrupt value chain on short-term basis. ➢ Non-compliance to compliance with U.S. laws such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act will enhance governance and indirect expenses. ➢ Changing consumer preference and perception: Luxury goods market has low customer retention rates attributed to changing customer preference and perception about brands. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Risk Map (2014) Disclaimer: The risk map is prepared on our assumptions and is not taken from any public announcement or article. [...]
[...] Thus, overall Fiat is improving its brand positioning via innovative promercial based marketing in matured markets i.e. United Kingdom, along with expansion of dealership network in emerging markets such as Australia. Finally, aggressive horizontal diversification of brand portfolio to improve customer segmentation is the essential pathway for the integrated automobile manufacturer. SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses Vertically integrated product High dependency on Mass car market portfolio; with strong presence in segment USA, China, Italy and UK markets Traditionally faced debt problems New products fuelling brand equity i.e. [...]
[...] Future Research Scope The future research scope involves the following: ➢ Top twenty luxury automobile manufacturers in United States, benchmarking study with special emphasis on financial and strategic KPI's. ➢ Understanding marketing and business strategies across leading passenger car brands in MINT countries (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey) ➢ Developing promotional and brand positioning strategies looking at other light commercial vehicle manufacturers. Can these be replicated in luxury automobile market? References ➢ Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) Annual Report (2013) http://www.fcagroup.com/en- US/investor_relations/financial_reports/FiatDocuments/Bilanci/2013/2013 _annual_report.pdf?redirectFromFiatspa=1 ➢ N. Craig Smith, “Corporate Social Responsibility: Whether or How?” California Management Review, 45/4 (Summer 2003): 52-76. [...]
[...] Thus from the above initial snapshot it could be seen that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is steadily restructuring its business activities across core markets i.e. NAFTA and APAC. It is further focusing on its premium brands to improve regional and local penetration on long-term basis. Historical & Strategic Developments In 1899 Giovanni Agnelli backed by domestic investors established Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino flagship automobile manufacturing unit at Turin. The company manufactured its first passenger car brand 3 ½ CV. In 1910, the enterprise aggressively expanded into new markets including United States, incorporating new manufacturing plant at Poughkeepsie. [...]
[...] ➢ Society: Majority of companies post scientific management has reduced emphasis on in-house and outside human capital as machines (Smith, 2003). The knowledge era emphasized the human capital importance for improving cutting edge technologies to enhance competitive advantage (Smith, 2003). The company has steadily increased female workforce to from in past 2 years (2011-2013). There has been substantial dip in the frequency of accidents to 0.19 (per 0.1 million hours) from 0.28 in 2013. Finally, Fiat has spend on employee skills and career development with no of training hours increased to 4,232 (in thousands) from 4,048 in past 2-3 years (Annual Report, 2013). [...]
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