John Elkann it's really there more challenging test of his life. Getting Stellantis out of trouble will require great skills of firmness, lucidity and generosity. If he knows how to exercise them, these are qualities that can make a scion of a good family, until now diligent and fortunate, a great manager endowed with that charisma that is the fundamental ingredient to be followed by his collaborators at all levels, and to be able to positively influence the wider public opinion. In this commitment he can take inspiration from what he should have learned from Marchionne that in 2004 found itself with Fiat in a worse position than Stellantis is today, which it was able to relaunch and then transform into a very American FCA.
Today, as then, public opinion and a large part of the ruling class looked with suspicion skepticism, if not with ill-concealed satisfaction, to Fiat's poor prospects for survival. Even today, after theearly departure of CEO Tavares, information chaos and political chatter are at an all-time high. As you rightly state Federico Fubini, now that the pagan celebration for the expulsion of Tavares is over, we can begin to thinking about the real causes of the auto crisis in Italy and therefore what remedies to adopt to safeguard the sector and maintain as many jobs as possible. Fubini cites as an example the fact that the Cost of electricity in Italy it is about double compared to other countries and therefore producing certain cars (especially small-displacement ones) is not economically sustainable in our country. And this is just one of the reasons that make our country a place where large-scale industry no longer exists.
Marchionne and his vision of business amidst political and union resistance
It is enough to briefly recall the history of the last twenty years to understand why ours is "not a country suited to large-scale business". Marchionne was the bearer of a production philosophy which was aiming at overcoming the ideological opposition between bosses and workers, to arrive at the community creation in which all participating entities would benefit, including the “nation” as a whole. This vision entailed profound changes not only in factory life, but also in relationship between politicians and businesses where the logic of power had to be replaced by loyal and transparent collaboration. This philosophy was rejected by the Italians. The politicians did not understand it, the unions, or rather some unions, namely the Fiom led by Landini, engaged in an epochal battle to hinder it, the entrepreneurs themselves thought that Marchionne's revolution was too risky, and in fact they left Fiat alone by making it exit from Confindustria and the metalworkers' contract. The other unions signed a separate agreement, which was then approved by all the factories of the group, while Landini continued his war (even judicial) which has only served him by allowing him to climb to the top of the CGIL, from where he continues to do politics dreaming of the possibility of turning Italy inside out.
Marchionne had understood with lucidity that in Italy, especially after the great crisis of 2008-2009, there was no possibility of finding that unity of purpose which would allow the creation of a climate favorable to the growth of businesses. The opportunity to buy Chrysler he moved his caution and that of the entire company about the United States. And in fact, even with the agreement of the American unions (note the difference with Landini) in a few years theAmerican company was relaunched so that Jeep became a global brand and 90% of Fiat's profits, later FCA, came from the USA.
After Marchionne's death there was theagreement with the French. The only possible way to reach the size of over 5 million cars that is now necessary to try to keep up with the other giants in the sector.
The car market in Italy and Stellantis numbers
In this context theItaly is a marginal market both in terms of production and sales of cars. The question to ask today is: what can be done to make it more appealing both for car manufacturers and first and foremost for the Stellantis factories, and for those in the supply chain that already sell all over the world? To begin with, it is not beneficial to the great confusion of numbers and opinions which are passed off as truth by improvised commentators who have never thought of reading a Stellantis balance sheet. For example, it is surprising that lightness with which yes they throw out figures about profits and dividends distributed by Stellantis. Some talk about 23 billion in profits in three years, some about 23 billion in dividends. Some say there would be no money for investments and some talk about the need for a capital increase. Finally the Sun 24 Hours he lined up the real figures: between 2021 and 2023 The Stellantis profits were around 50 billion while the dividends amounted to 7,5 billion. Adding those from mergers (which however have motivations in different parts) we arrive at 11,7 billion. If the investments have not been made it is not just a question of lack of money. Perhaps Tavares he found himself managing avery large company with 14 brands automotive and did not know which collaborators to trust, so he drove away many good people and the company basically stopped. Tavares pursued a exaggerated cost-cutting policy but above all it overestimated the market's absorption capacity by increasing prices by more than 27%, much more than inflation. This caused a strong Falling market share not only in Italy and Europe but above all in the USA where Chrysler has lost four points of market share.
Auto crisis: the uncertainties of the ecological transition
To all this that we can consider as the difficulties of a large merger, has been added theuncertainty of the ecological transition. Even in this case, many inaccurate things are said. Marchionne was skeptical about the possibility of focusing everything on electric only. But in his last meeting with managers in 2018, a few months before his death, he announced the transition of the entire range to electric or hybrid in a five-year period. On the other hand every good manager must be well aware of the first rule to avoid corporate imbalances: avoid making investments too early or in the wrong size.electric even today, at least until new long-lasting and fast-charging batteries are found, it is a big question mark. Companies that have made rapid progress find themselves having to take the books to court. China is an exception, and we should ask ourselves for what reasons.
Everyone is calling for a John Elkann new business plan who "loves Italy" as the president of Confindustria, Orsini, said. But for the moment there are too many unknowns still to be resolved, first of all the regulatory ones from Brussels starting with the fines on emissions that should come into force next year and that paradoxically could push car companies to produce less.Italy, as Fubini said, will be able to play a role only if he knows offer competitive conditions comparable to those of other countries not so much on wages, but on all other costs of services and on the quality of work. Public incentives will also have to be directed towards innovation and investment.
The controversy over the redundancy fund
Generic invocations about the money given by the Italian government to Fiat or controversy over redundancy payments when it should be known that the cash is paid by all companies and that it is used in times of ordinary crisis. Fiat has always been in balance, while for the extraordinary case in fact there is a state intervention that largely compensates for the fact that it cannot do anything better on the possibility of relocating redundant workers in certain sectors to others that instead continue to need manpower. The so-called active policies have never been seen.
Questions extremely complicated that they cannot be debased by jokes like that of Luca Montezemolo who did not understand why the new 600 was made in Poland forgetting that the current 500 has been made in Poland for many years now, perhaps since he was still president of Fiat. Maybe he had forgotten!
