DETROIT: Marchionne calls for EU assistance for beleaguered carmakers
By Chris Wright | 16 January 2013
 |
“Right now, too many cars are being made and we are selling them at ridiculously low prices and this can’t go on forever.” |
The boss of Italian car giant Fiat wants the EU to step in and help rescue Europe’s beleaguered automotive industry.
As carmakers struggle with falling sales, Sergio Marchionne called for intervention on a European level. He also wants individual companies and countries to stop making unilateral decisions which are not in the interests of a single market.
Marchionne, who also heads up American car firm Chrysler, drew parallels with what happened in the US industry when the economic crisis hit in 2007. Vehicle sales there slumped from 16 million a year to just 10 million and the government stepped in to bail out automakers.
Enforced Chapter 11 bankruptcies, where the state took control, allowed the carmakers to “cleanse out the old companies and to re-shape and re-size”, he said.
“The parallel with Europe is startling. People just aren’t buying cars. In Italy last year the market came down to the same number of sales as there were in 1979 – we have lost 33 years of volume growth. Car factories all round Europe are tooled up to deal with volume expectations which just have not materialised.
“I would like an intervention at a European level and a stop to the unilateral actions being taken in some countries at the expense of others. That is not how a single market should work.”
Marchionne said that the big volume makers are losing billions of euros a year and factory closures are already under way – Ford plants in the UK and Belgium, General Motors in Antwerp, PSA Peugeot Citroen in France and Fiat in Italy.
He added: “This is a painful process that often favours one market over another.”
Marchionne, as chairman of the European carmakers’ association ACEA, has been lobbying the EU but said he is being ignored.
“The EU should act and provide support to help the industry restructure and build a growth agenda," he maintains.
“Right now, too many cars are being made and we are selling them at ridiculously low prices and this can’t go on forever.”
Marchionne also said he did not see the markets rebounding for some time, and certainly not in 2013.
Sectors: Vehicle manufacturers
Companies: Fiat, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, PSA, Peugeot, Citroen
View next/previous articles
16 Jan 2013 -
Currently reading -
DETROIT: Marchionne calls for EU assistance for beleaguered carmakers
16 Jan 2013 -
Related company research
Fiat S.p.A. - SWOT Analysis company profile is the essential source for top-level company data and information. Fiat S.p.A. - SWOT Analysis examines the company’s key business structure and operations, history and products, and provides summary analy...
Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd - Company Capsule
Synopsis ICD Research's "Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd - Company Capsule" contains a company overview, key facts, major products and services and key employees Summary ICD Research's "Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd - Company Capsule" is a crucial res...
Fiat 2010 company profile edition 2
This latest edition just-auto company profile is part of a major series of reports that will provide you with convenient and concise analysis on the world's largest component and vehicle manufacturers. Each individual company is profiled in a consist...
Related articles
ITALY: Jeep quick to change to keep customers happy
Jeep global sales were a record 701,200 last year, a 100% increase in just two years and a long way from the dark days of 2008/09 when ailing Chrysler Jeep was rescued by Fiat.
Read more on this hot issue
The 2013 Detroit Motor Show (NAIAS)
The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) - 'Detroit Show' - is January's big auto show and it is entering its 25th year as an international event. Coverage from our team on the ground at the Cobo is gathered together here.
There are currently 2 comments on this article
Quote: When you are in a hole stop digging. Why should the taxpayer foot the bill for the antiquated, arrogance of the likes of Fiat, Peugeot?
That happens everywhere, in USA and in Canada. When these guys will understand it is time to fabricate something that people want; much more efficient ultralight cars? Someone once told me: "Mark, all concerning car making (anywhere in the world) is 200% politics..." It is appalling, but it is true! I wanted to add to it; “let’s add 100% BS” (but I did not). Someone else who knows the auto industry very well told me; “Mark, you’ve got it all wrong; there is 200% BS, and 100% politics...” Here you go...!
I have to admit, there are some very nice projects, which unfortunately are on the “tablettes” waiting for political decisions..., which are not coming! I hope, that will change.
When we are talking about energy conservation, the message has difficulty to pass... Megawatts are popular, Negawatts (using Amory Lovins expression) - are not! It is just too bad! I hope that will change too!
Mark Kmicikiewicz said at 1:15 am, January 25, 2013
Reply to this comment