Fiat to jump-start Italian growth

"Fiat to divide and drive," headlines La Stampa in the wake of the appointment of Agnelli family heir John Elkann who has taken over the post of chairman of Italy's biggest company from Luca Cordero di Montezemolo. The Fiat owned daily explains explains reassertion of the Agnelli family's control over the Turin based company has coincided with the presentation of an industrial plan which will separate Fiat car production from other businesses and establish new alliances. In a comment piece also in La Stampa, economist Mario Deaglio points out that this latest initiative is coherent with perspective of "a global market with a very limited number of manufacturers, who will need to sell six to seven million vehicles per year to ensure their continued survival." Fiat's purchase of a controlling stake in Chrysler and the recent deal between Renault and Daimler are expressions of this trend. In the current grim economic context, Deaglio waxes lyrical about the plan, which he believes "is the first contribution to the development of rejuvenated Italian economy that will emerge from the recession."