During a crisis meeting
between Sergio Marchionne and the Italian government
yesterday in Rome, called in response to remarks that
Marchionne made a week ago to suggest that the carmaker
could shift its headquarters to the U.S. when a proposed
merger with Chrysler goes through, the Fiat CEO
reaffirmed his commitment to his much touted 20
billion euro domestic investment plan which seemed to
satisfy the state government although unions remained
unconvinced and they felt he said nothing new.
Also present at the
crunch meeting was Fiat Chairman John Elkann and
together he and Marchionne reaffirmed their commitment
to the recent 'Fabbrica Italia' proposal that calls for
Italian vehicle production to be raised from 650,000
units a year to 1,400,000 by 2014 through a 20 billion
euro investment coming from from Fiat and Fiat
Industrial. So far the giant Mirafiori plant in Fiat's
hometown Turin and the Alfa Romeo factory at Pomigliano
d'Arco near Naples have been recent beneficiaries of new
investment plans that throw these struggling facilities
lifelines, although these two projects make up only a
fraction of the touted figure of 20 billion euros.
Following the meeting
the Italian government seemed satisfied with Fiat's
proposals. Minister for Economic Development Paolo
Romani said would be concerned if Fiat relocated its
factories abroad, but he seemed convinced that it will
"always have an Italian heart". In an interview in
today's La Stampa newspaper, reported AGI,
Romani said: "I would be concerned if Fiat relocated its
factories, but I'm not concerned that it is a
multinational company exporting the 'made in Italy'
brand to the United States, Brazil or Serbia," he said
in response to the Cgil and Fiom unions claims that the
carmaker has already decided to relocate its
headquarters to Detroit. Industry observers have mostly
assumed that Marchionne's controversial comments last
week to that effect during the JD Power Automotive
Roundtable conference in San Francisco were the
start of a gradual softening up process. "I'm confident
that Fiat will continue to be a big multinational
company with an Italian heart," Romani said, adding:
"The U.S. government's funds are nothing but loans and,
as such, will have to be paid back; they are not a gift
for Fiat."
Meanwhile in an
interview with La Repubblica newspaper today,
Fiom leader Maurizio Landini observed that "Marchionne
said nothing new" and there were no statements to emerge
from the meeting to the effect that Fiat's headquarters
will remain in Italy in the future. "There are no
guarantees that Fiat will remain in Italy and nothing
new has been said on its investments and business plan,"
AGI this afternoon reported Landini as telling
the national daily newspaper. "Marchionne said nothing
new and the government has made a fool of itself," the
tough talking union leader noted.
"Marchionne didn't
make any commitment to remain in Italy after 2014. He's
taking time to see how things will go for Chrysler: if
they go well, he will relocate everything there. That's
a fact: there are no new models, layoffs are on the rise
and employment is down. We don't know anything about 18
of the 20 billion worth of investments pledged by the
group, except for the fact that the Agnelli family are
not going to contribute a single euro" Landini
continued. "They are moving away, the family is
investing everything in India and China, and is
disengaging from its obligations in Italy, that's the
truth. And what is the government doing? Instead of
trying to attract fresh capitals from outside, it seems
just interested in adopting the industrial relations
model defined by Marchionne, the unilateral model of
Pomigliano and Mirafiori," he concluded.
