Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in Brazil: Alliance Consolidated

Abstract

This article presents a single descriptive case study reporting the consolidation of the strategic alliance between the Italian automotive manufacturer Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (FIAT) and the North American Chrysler Group LLC (Chrysler), regarding their operation in Brazil. FIAT acquired Chrysler in 2009 due to its bankruptcy. In 2014, the group Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) was founded and became the world's seventh carmaker.  In the same year, FCA launched in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) its Initial Public Offering (IPO), selling Ferrari's stocks. In 2015, FCA accumulated losses of 25 percent  of commercial performance, due to the Brazilian cris (FCA,2015). Some complementary interests motivated such alliance: FIAT's interest in selling big platform cars in the North American market while Chrysler was interested in selling small platform cars in the European and Latin American Markets.  FCA holds eleven brands, including Jeep, Dodge, Ferrari, and Maserati, for instance. FCA operates in 40 countries and has sales representatives in 150 countries. This study analyzes the challengesto theconsolidation of the Brazilian operation, in Betim, Minas Gerais State, where Italians, North Americans and Brazilians work together, in the middle of a political and economic crisis in Brazil.