It had been a few years since the Italian industry had not emphasized its workforce in its promotional messages. Those employees who build the wealth of employers every day. Examples of advertising tout court, you see them every day: from sofas, to liqueurs, to biscuits, to tortellini. But workers and employees are seen very little. That in 2023 the most famous Italian car factory - Fiat - decided to celebrate his men and a car a documentary film we didn't expect that. A video dedicated to the employees of the Giambattista Vico plant in Pomigliano d'Arco who produce the Panda. It is an event that goes beyond promotional advertising messages; which pays homage to a community of workers who accepted a productive and technological challenge many years ago. They made history with a small car designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro.
Pomigliano, the car capital of the South.
In the former Alfasud plant that passed to the Turin group, the Panda was produced for years and then more recently the Fiat 500. The change of pace of the largest car factory in the South, at the beginning of the Alfa Romeo Group, which later became Fiat, Fca, he arrived when he was in Turin Sergio Marchionne. The manager was a constant presence in these parts, convinced that he was reorganizing the factory from top to bottom «with whom he fits», he said. The workers of Pomigliano are now recognized as the "craftsmen" of the timeless Panda and to Marchionne they would have shown something very different from the grim cartels of the 90s in the midst of union struggles. They have produced a successful model that has become an icon of Made in Italy in the world in over 40 years. After all, it is a car, but the documentary celebrates it as the result of collective participation. Of a company made up of human capital and investments often paid for by the community.
The Panda symbol of Made in Italy
The docufilm is called «Pandelleria» and was filmed on the island of Pantelleria where there is the highest density of pandas in the world. In the production of the film, the natural beauties of the place are highlighted, along the streets of which pandas of different eras walk and spoil. The first screening took place in Pomigliano with the participation of employees. Their story therefore, it becomes representative of an organization which has been able to keep manual skills, robotics and profits together. Not that everything went smoothly, but the relaunch of the plant has won the victory over the now distant risk of a dangerous closure. Marchionne's "who is there" brought together unions, parties, the government, the Region, all so as not to bury a pool of workers of thousands of people. The car capital of the South was said, with a mixture of admiration and anger because cars could not be made in the South. "After 43 years, the Fiat Panda is the leading city car in Europe and the best-selling vehicle in Italy, where it holds a brilliant 8% share of the overall market, contributing significantly to the performance of Stellantis," he said. Olivier Francois, CEO of Fiat and Stellantis Global. But what can we see in the documentary? In 30 minutes directed by John Troilus the Panda is above all the inseparable companion of the inhabitants of Pantelleria. Three generations of models that have conquered, among others, a beekeeper, a farmer, a mechanic, a priest, a musician and many others. Everyone is united by the love for the island and for the "little car" which helps them in their daily activities. Given the market results, i awards announced for all employees and the continuity of production in the small engine segment it is probable that there would not even have been a need to produce a film about a symbol of Italy in the 80s, 90s, 2000s for a family pride. But in the end what counts is the hands and the skill of those who determine success, in this case in Southern Italy. Fair to acknowledge it.
