Fiat

Fiat S.p.A. (also known as the FIAT Group) (NYSE: FIA) is an automobile manufacturer, financial and industrial group based in Turin, Northern Italy.

The name is an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (Italian Car Factory of Turin), founded by a group of investors--Giovanni Agnelli among them--in 1899. His grandson Gianni Agnelli was Fiat chairman from 1966 until his death on January 24, 2003. However, from 1996, he only served as an "honorary" chairman. After his removal as leader, Paolo Fresco served as CEO and Paolo Cantarella as chairman. Umberto Agnelli then took over as chairman from 2002 to 2004. After Umberto Agnelli's death on May 28, 2004, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo was named chairman, but Agnelli heir John Elkann became vice chairman at age 28 and other family members are on the board. At this point, CEO Giuseppe Morchio immediately offered his resignation. Sergio Marchionne was named to replace him on June 1, 2004.

Activities

The group's activities were initially focused on the industrial production of cars, industrial and agricultural vehicles. Over time it has diversified into many other fields, and the group now has activities in a wide range of sectors in industry and financial services. It is Italy's largest industrial concern. It also has significant worldwide operations, operating in 61 countries with 1,063 companies that employ over 223,000 people, 111,000 of whom are outside Italy.