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The Role of Fiat in the Development of the Italian Car Industry in the 1950's

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2011

Francesca Fauri
Francesca Fauri
Affiliation:
FRANCESCA FAURI is a researcher in the Department of Scienze Economiche of the Bologna University.
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Abstract

During the 1950's, Fiat, one of Italy's most important manufacturing companies, grew at enormous speed. Two factors helped the car maker achieve this impressive performance: For one, a set of import barriers virtually denied foreign producers access to the Italian market until the founding of the European Economic Community (EEC). Moreover, Fiat managed to remain at the cutting edge of car manufacturing technology, enabling it to expand production, foreign sales and profits. Combining a reliance on trade barriers with technological change as well as an aggressive export strategy, Vittorio Valletta, Fiat's post-World War II general manager, bet on serving the more dynamic foreign markets from modern plants built with the help of Marshall Plan funds. From this basis he later sold into a growing domestic market, where Fiat was without serious competition.

Type
Articles
Information
Business History Review , Volume 70 , Issue 2 , Summer 1996 , pp. 167 - 206
Copyright
Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 1996

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References

1 This strategy has been in use since the early years of the 20th century. See Castronovo, Valerio, “L'internazionalizzazione dell'industria italiana. Una nuova prospettiva di ricerca” and Giuseppe Volpato, “L'internazionalizzazione dell'industria automobilistica italiana,” L'industria italiana nel mercato mondiale dalla fine dell'800 alla metà del ′900. Atti del seminario 1992, ed. Fiat, Archivio Storico (Torino, 1993), 157–216.Google Scholar

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26 Bigazzi, “Esportazione e investimenti esteri,” 118–119; see also Overy, R. J., “Cars, Roads and Economic Recovery in Germany, 1932–1938,” in Economic History Review 28 (1975): 466–83.Google Scholar

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28 Citroen bought the sports and racing car firm Maserati of Modena in 1968. Laux, The European Automobile Industry, 196. On Italian duties on imported cars see Wells, Louis T. Jr, “Automobiles,” in Big Business and the State: Changing Refotions in Western Europe, ed. Vernon, Raymond (Cambridge, Mass., 1974), 232.Google Scholar

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30 As Quoted in Wilkins and Hill, Ford on Six Continents, 229–230; Italy, according to the authors, became Ford's “major disappointment” in Europe.

31 Reich stresses the influence of fascist state policy on Italy's postwar economic structure, with particular emphasis on the long-lasting effects on the auto industry. See Reich, Simon, The Fruits of Fascism: Postwar Prosperity in Historical Perspective (Ithaca, NY, 1989), 291.Google Scholar

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38 Friedman, Tutto in famiglia, 26.

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40 IFI controlled thirty companies and various chemical and mineral-working factories in the Piedmont, as well as numerous interests in other big Italian and foreign companies. Castronovo, Giovanni Agnelli, 446.

41 In 1946 the credit provided by the Bank of America and Banca d'America e d'Italia was decisive in fostering Fiat's first increase in fully paid-up capital from 400 million to 4 billion lire. Castronovo, Giovanni Agnelli, 692–693.

42 For a detailed reconstruction of industrial relations in Fiat from the 1950s to 1980 see Giovanni Contini, “The Rise and Fall of Shop-Floor Bargaining at Fiat, 1945–1980,” in Tolliday, Between Fordism and Flexibility, 144–167, and also by Contini, , “Enterprise Management and Employer Organization in Italy: Fiat, Public Enterprise and Confindustria, 1922–1990,” in The Power to Manage? ed. Tolliday, Steven and Zeitlin, Jonathan (New York, 1991).Google Scholar

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45 Fiat, Relazioni del Consiglio di Ammistrazione e dei Sindaci (hereafter Relazioni), (Torino, 1947), 8.

46 Fiat, Relazioni (1947), 13–14.

47 In the beginning, very few Italian firms took advantage of the opportunity offered by American funds to renew their plants, considering it a risky business and preferring to concentrate instead on raw material orders. Archivio Storico Confindustria (ASC), Giunta Esecutiva, Verabale della seduta del 27 maggio 1949, b. 1. On this issue see also Giuseppe Maione, who is of the opinion that the delays in the requests for machinery imports were attributable to the “industrialists' inability to produce far-reaching programs” in Tecnocrati e mercanti: L'industria italiana fra dirigismo e concorrenza internazionale (Milano, 1986), 250.

48 Barrati, Piero, Vittorio Valletta (Torino, 1983), 213–217.Google Scholar

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53 Fiat, Relazioni (1949), 10.

54 OCDE, Long Term Perspectives of the World Car Industries (Paris, 1978).Google Scholar

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56 Fiat, Relazioni (1949), 8. Fiat calculated that government taxes accounted for 35 percent of the final price. Since in 1957 many European Economic Community (EEC) countries put aside this percentage as sales tax, Fiat urged the government to comply with this procedure in order to increase standardization among EEC countries of the fiscal charges levied on the production; Fiat, Relazioni (1958), 6. See also Forte, Francesco, Alcuni calcoli del carico fiscale sull'automobilismo in Italia (Milano, 1955).Google Scholar

57 Under a Ministerial Decree of 26 December 1952 (No. 8387), which was applied retroactively as of 1 March 1952, the sales tax was refunded on exports to dollar territories of the following articles: warships (4 percent of sales price), ammunitions (1.5–2.5 percent), radar-equipment (4 percent), accordions (4 percent), hats and straw products (3.5 percent of sale price), cement products (90 lire per 100 kgs.), tractors and motor vehicles (5 percent).

58 ACS, Gabinetto 1953, b. 14.

59 ASC, Giunta Esecutiva, Verbale della Riunione del 6 novembre 1951, b. 1. 5/15.

60 Bigazzi, “Esportazione e investimenti esteri,” 161.

61 After the 1929 crisis, Alfa Romeo's finances grew worse and in 1933 the government brought it under the control of its Agency for Industrial Recovery (IRI), a public body that managed bankrupt enterprises. Alfa profited from rearmament for the Ethiopian war and the Spanish Civil War. The machinery was updated and augmented and various plants were totally reorganized to render the work cycles fairly consecutive. See Duccio Bigazzi, “Management strategies in the Italian car industry 1906–45: Fiat and Alfa Romeo,” in Tolliday and Zeitlin, Between Fordism and Flexibility, 84.

62 Similarly, in Germany Daimler-Benz and Volkswagen (which had suffered limited damage during the war) supported by both government and large German banks, were the two pivotal firms in a merger strategy that guaranteed their corporate independence from foreign economic interests and their economic supremacy over foreign subsidiaries at home. See Reich, The Fruits of Fascism, 253–254.

63 As to the other minor Italian automobile producers, Isotta Fraschini's planned renaissance after the war fizzled ignominiously and the new speciahst makers, such as Ferrari and Maserati, manufactured in extremely small numbers until the 1960s.

64 Evidently one of the main beneficiaries of the agreement was Renault, which was able to sell the Dauphine on the Italian market at 890,000 Ure while the imported price, due to the high tariff, was 950,000 lire. On this issue, see Quattroruote 3 (1961). The data are taken from Automobile Club d'Italia (ACI), Statistiche Automobilistiche, 1960 (Roma, 1961), 28.Google Scholar On Alfa Romeo see Angelo Tito Anselmi (a cura di), Alfa: immagini e percorsi 1919–1985 (Milano, 1986), and Bigazzi, Duccio, Il Portello. Operai, tecnici e imprenditori all'Alfa Romeo 1906–1926 (Milano, 1988).Google Scholar

65 “The distribution system was organized through ‘filiali’ and ‘succursali’ directly under the control of the company and through free agents spread around the country,” according to Volpato, L'industria automobilistica internazionale, 202. In the following years Fiat gained total control of Autobianchi, Lancia (1969), and Alfa Romeo and Ferrari at the end of the 1980s. See Istituto per gli Studi di Economia (ISE), L'economia degli anni '50 in Italia, vol. II (Milano, 1964), 426.Google Scholar On the history of Lancia see Franco Amatori, Per una storia economica della Lancia 1906–1969, Progetto Archivio Storico FIAT. Le carte scoperte. Documenti raccolti e ordinati per un archivio della Lancia (Milano, 1990).Google Scholar

66 Fiat, Relazioni (1951), 11.

67 Sedgwick, Michael, Fiat (New York, 1974), 244.Google Scholar From 1954, when the 600 entered the scene, to 1958 the percentage of cars under 650cc of total Italian production increased from 33.3 to 58 percent. In 1957 new small car models such as the Bianchina were produced. See F. F., , “L'industria automobilistica,” in Bancaria 2 (1959): 241.Google Scholar

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69 Barbiroli, Giancarlo, Aspetti tecnici ed economici della produzione e del mercato delle automobili in Italia (Bologna, 1967), 13.Google Scholar

70 “In 1958, 58 percent of Italian cars were in the 650cc range. In France the first range (up to 852cc) absorbed 56.2 percent of production, while in Germany the cars produced below the 1000cc range had a share of only 18.2 percent … This compulsory Fiat specialization in small cars had long lasting negative resules: Less opportunities to sell in foreign markets (where small cars covered only a fraction of the market) and less opportunities to research and develop sophisticated technological innovations in the projecting of a vehicle.” See Volpato, “L'industrializzazione dell'industria automobilistica italiana,” 193 ff.

71 One-fifth of these funds came from ERP loans as late as 1952. See Fiat, Relazioni (1953), 14.

72 Fiat, Relazioni (1956), 9.

73 Fiat, Relazioni (1960), 29.

74 Bairati, Vittorio Valletta, 281.

75 Fiat, Relazioni (1954), 27.

76 Fiat, Relazioni (1955), 31.

77 Volpato, L'industria automobilistica internazionale, 373.

78 Calculated from Fiat, Divisione Bilanci, Partecipazioni al 31 Dicembre 1961 e raffronto con il Dicembre 1960.

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81 In 1907, in order to participate in a car race for cars completely made in Italy, Giovanni Agnelli founded the RIV, for the production of ball-bearings. In 1939 production had reached 20 million ball-bearings manufactured. See Rossi, A., “A Bail-Bearing for Eternity,” in Successo (Giugno, 1970), 132.Google Scholar

82 The working tariff, or the tariff in use, applied by Italy from the early 1950s was the result of a set of administrative measures that had significantly reduced the incidence of the legal tariff (the tariff set by the 1950 law, also called bargaining tariff since it was used in international—for instance GATT—rounds on tariff reduction). On this issue see Fauri, “La fine dell'autarchia,” 347–57.

83 “Fiat's propensity for diversification did not allow it to choose the right priorities … a higher degree of standardization would have helped Fiat's international competitive position,” in Volpato, L'industria automobilistica internazionale, 354–355.

84 Zanetti, Giovanni and Filippi, Enrico, Finanza e sviluppo della grande industria in Italia (Torino, 1967), 255.Google Scholar

85 Author's calculations. For the numbers see Fiat, Relazioni del consiglio d'amministrazione e dei sindaci: Bilancio e conto perdite e profitti (1955 and 1961), Annexes.

86 Bairati, Vittorio Valletta, 281. On Fiat's overall strategy see also Pavan, Robert J., Struttura e strategie delle imprese italiane (Bologna, 1976), 148 ff.Google Scholar

87 Bigazzi, “Un'impresa italiana sul mercato mondiale,” 230–237.

88 Between June 1951 and April 1957 different bilateral agreements with Germany increased the quota from 187 to 1,400 million lire. See Ministero degli Affari Esteri, Bollettino di legislazione doganale e commerciale, issues from 1950 to 1957.

89 Milward, Alan S., The European Rescue of the Nation-State (Berkeley, Calif., 1992), 412.Google Scholar

90 Istituto centrale di statisea (ISTAT), Statistica Annuale del Commercio con l'estero, various issues. On Italy's car production and foreign markets see also the articles by Fauri, Francesca “Produzioni e mercati: L'industria e il mercato degli autoveicoli,” in Bancaria 1 (1957): 100–105Google Scholar and Bancaria 2 (1959): 239–245, 364–375.

91 During the 1920s car exports to the North American market represented an average of 0.3 percent of Italy's car exports.

92 See Bairati, Vittorio Valletta, 286 ff.

93 “The Big Three mutually contemplating a small car could only see lost profits from reduced sales of large cars.” See White, Lawrence J., The Automobile Industry Since 1945 (Cambridge, Mass., 1971), 177–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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97 Volpato, L'industria automobilistica internazionale, 190–196.

98 From 1959 to 1960 the number of new registrations of imported cars in the United States decreased from 610,000 to 500,000. The only country registering an increase was West Germany, from 202,000 to 220,000. See United Nations, Economic Commission for Europe, Economic Survey of Europe 1959–1960 (Geneva, 1961), 19.Google Scholar

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100 Confederazione Generale dell'Industria Italiana (CGII), Annuario 1950, 440–442.

101 ISE, Annuario della congiuntura economica italiana (Milano, 1952–1953), 576–577.Google Scholar For an overview of the long term effects of liberalization and the role of Minister La Malfa, “Europe's number one liberalizer,” see Alessandrini, Pietro, “L'economia italiana dalla ricostruzione allo SME,” in Rassegna Economica 1 (1983): 69–89.Google Scholar

102 Curzon, Gerard, Multilateral Commercial Diphmacy (New York, 1966), 158–159Google Scholar, and Frank, Isaiah, The European Common Market: An Analysis of Commercial Policy (New York, 1961), 62.Google Scholar

103 The exempted goods were listed in the “Circolare del ministero del commercio estero,” 31 ottobre 1951, n. 225565, “Regime provvisorio d'importazione dall'area dell'Unione Europea dei Pagamenti (Paesi dell'OECE e dell'area della sterlina),” in Ministero del Commercio con l'Estero, Bollettino di legislazione commerciale e doganale (1951), 892.

104 On this issue see Rosa, Carmelo La, “Disciplina degli scambi con l'estero,” in AAVV Lezioni sul commercio con l'estero tenute al corso di aggiornamento per i funzionari delle Camere di Commercio, Industria e Agricoltura dal 9 al 20 novembre 1953 a Roma (Roma, 1953), 201.Google Scholar

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106 The formula for the determination of the new but lower tariff duties was, therefore: Duty to be levied = (Duty set in general tariff -ll)/2. See Holbik, Karel, Italy in International Cooperation (Padova, 1959), 88Google Scholar; Decreto Presidenziale (DPR), 8 July 1950, n. 453 in Supplemento alla Gazzetta Ufficiale (GU), 13 July 1958, n. 158. “The basic idea was that from 1947 onwards the general average of the specific duties under the 1921 tariff should amount to no more than 1 percent ad valorem; and this, added to the 10 percent licence fee, made a total of 11 percent.” See Zacchia, Carlo, “Features of the Present Italian Customs Tariff,” in Banca Nazionale del Lavoro Quarterly Review 26 (1953): 166.Google Scholar

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108 DPR n. 1125 in GU, 253 (3 Nov. 1951).

109 Among exempted goods were furs, precious stones and metals, watches, coffee, tea, some chemical products, spices, beverages, cattle, milk and cream, butter and cheese, seeds and vegetable oils, some cotton textiles and finally some engineering products, including printing machines and cars. See Cavalcanti, Maria Luisa, La politica commerciale italiana 1945–1952: Uomini e fatti (Napoli, 1984), 198–199.Google Scholar

110 Calculated from Ministero delle Finanze, Direzione generale delle dogane e delle imposte indirette, Tariffa dei dazi doganali di importazione della repubblica italiana, Testo approvato con DPR 26 Dee. 1958, n. 1105, Roma 1958.

111 Italy's import quota had maintained imports around 1.6 percent of prodution over those years. It is also interesting to note that already in 1926 Italy was importing a larger number of cars than in 1957: 5,804 against 5,125, for which the main suppliers were the United States. See ISTAT, Annuario di statistica, 1927.

112 The tariff on extra-EEC car imports ranged around 29 percent, while quantitative restrictions were maintained by Italy, France and Benelux at 3 percent of national production in 1959, and at 4 percent and 5 percent in the two following years. See Demaria, Giovanni, “Alcune leggi quasi naturali per l'industria automobilistica in fase di allargamento spaziale dei suoi mercati,” in Automobilismo industriale 34 (1958): 12–14.Google Scholar Perhaps a parallel could be drawn with Japan, which reduced the level of car imports to 1 percent of new vehicles sales by 1960 and remained at this level for more than twenty years. See Cusumano, Michael A., The Japanese Automobile Industry (Cambridge, Mass., 1985), 7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Among non–European car producers, the case of Japan is interesting since the difficulties registered in the second half of the 1950s in stipulating any land of commercial agreement with Italy were reflected in the almost non-existent car trade. After the commercial agreement of December 1952, Japan and Italy were unable to renew the agreement in the following years until 1962. In the meanwhile, trade reverted to balanced purchases in dollars and no Japanese vehicle was able to enter the Italian market. See Bollettino di kgislazione doganale e commerciale, issues 1952–1962.

113 Reported in Costa, Angelo, Scritti e discorsi, vol. IV (Milano, 1981), 61.Google Scholar

114 See Fiat, Relazioni (1955), 7.

115 “I had to give up some positions in this important battle.” Quoted in Malfa, Ugo La, “La politica degli scambi con l'estero e i monopoli,” in Scalfari, Eugenio, La lotta contro imonopoli (Bari, 1955), 193.Google Scholar

116 In 1953 Valletta wrote to De Gasperi “it was thanks to ‘your’ reconstruction policy that all industries in Italy were able to address their productive development towards the essential aim of increasing Italy's living standard.” PCM to Segreteria De Gasperi, 9 April 1953, b. 16, fase. FIAT, (ACS).

117 PCM to Segreteria De Gasperi, 9 April 1953.

118 Carli, Guido, Cinquant'anni di vita italiana (Bari, 1993), 164–165.Google Scholar

119 Cito, Vittorio, “Le restrizioni quantitative al commercio nel Trattato per la Comunità Economica Europea,” in Bancaria 6 (1958): 659–67.Google ScholarJones, Daniel T., Maturity and Crisis in the European Car Industry. Structural Change and Public Policy (Sussex, 1981), 51–52.Google Scholar

120 “In 1964, regulations were changed so that automobile importers had to pay foreign exchange within 30 days of importing rather than 360 days, as previously allowed. In 1965, foreign firms complained that they could not buy advertising time on governmentowned television,” in Wells, “Automobiles,” 242–243.

121 “As a matter of fact, American exports were not competitive. If American companies wanted to reach world markets, they had to produce abroad.” American companies in fact expanded their European factories and spread to Australia and then to less developed countries (Argentina, Brazil and Mexico). See Wilkins, “Automobiles and International Markets,” 202.

122 Associazione nazionale fra le industrie automobilistiche (ANFIA), L'automobile in cifre, (Torino, 1959).

123 The first five companies were General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Volkswagen, and British Motor Corporation. Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Monthly Statistics Review (London, 1961).

124 See the interesting chapter “La concentrazione in Europa,” in Volpato, L'industria automobilistica internazionale, 189–205.

125 Communauté Economique Européene (CEE), “L'industrie de la Construction Automobile dans les Pays de la CEE,” Serie Industrielle n. 2 (Bruxelles, 1962).

126 Fiat, Relazioni (1960), Annexes.

127 Ciocca, Pierluigi, Filosa, Renato and Ray, Guido M., “Integrazione e sviluppo dell'economia italiana nell'ultimo ventennio: un riesame critico,” in Contributi alia ricerca economica 3 (1973): 58–135.Google Scholar

128 On these issues see Fauri, Francesca, “Italy in International Economic Cooperation: The Franco-Italian Customs Union and the Fritalux-Finibel Negotiations,” in Journal of European Integration History 2 (1995): 27–45.Google Scholar