# FIAT closes down.



## eddied (May 9, 2005)

Ciao tutti,
FIAT have announced that as of yesterday 15th. they are closing down all their factories until Jan 19th. and laying off 50,000 staff.
I think it's more to do with the credit crunch than the success of the juddergate campaign :wink: 
saluti,
eddied


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## 101405 (Oct 15, 2006)

Its to do with a drop in sales and full stock yards, some reductions in price will be on the way in Lcv's , last time this happened Ford knocked five thou £ off transits. but this is a bigger slowdown,


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## drcotts (Feb 23, 2006)

Am i right in saying that with fiat base vehicles the converter doesnt have to pay for the chassis until they have sold the finished van.
Phill


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## artona (Jan 19, 2006)

certainly was the case Phill


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## ob1 (Sep 25, 2007)

I think that it was indeed the case with Autocruise Phill, and one of the reasons that they stayed with Peugeot, but I don't think that it applies industry wide.

Ron


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## viator (May 1, 2007)

See news cutting from Daily Mail 9/12/08.

viator


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## zulurita (May 9, 2005)

And will they honour their commitment to sort out our juddering problems?


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## 96299 (Sep 15, 2005)

zulurita said:


> And will they honour their commitment to sort out our juddering problems?


Yeah..Thats what I want to know as well. :? I somehow feel that we wont be priority. 8O

steve


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## maddie (Jan 4, 2006)

drcotts said:


> Am i right in saying that with fiat base vehicles the converter doesnt have to pay for the chassis until they have sold the finished van.
> Phill


If they want to give me a van which I can pay for after I have converted and sold it I am up for 1 every 6 / 8 weeks :lol: 
terry 
I can see me starting a new business


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## 101405 (Oct 15, 2006)

No body gives you that amount of Credit no matter how big you are, you dont think your chassis cab or engine mount sits in hymers factory free. You order you pay! they are ordered, a date is fixed in the schedule for build (not always on time) and they are then called off for delivery . A big customer like Hymer group will have a bit of a lever . only the biggest of dealers can have stock to choose from , because its all money, not motorhomes thats tied up.


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## b16duv (Feb 14, 2006)

Chigman said:


> zulurita said:
> 
> 
> > And will they honour their commitment to sort out our juddering problems?
> ...


Yeah, let's make sure the judder gets sorted out, never mind the 50,000 people being laid off!!!!!!!!!


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## maddie (Jan 4, 2006)

silversurfa said:


> No body gives you that amount of Credit no matter how big you are, you dont think your chassis cab or engine mount sits in hymers factory free. You order you pay! they are ordered, a date is fixed in the schedule for build (not always on time) and they are then called off for delivery . A big customer like Hymer group will have a bit of a lever . only the biggest of dealers can have stock to choose from , because its all money, not motorhomes thats tied up.


AWWWH, so you mean they will not give me the van :lol: AND HERE was I hoping to get someone else to give me the windows,loo, cooker,shower and kitchen sink etc, that I could also pay for after selling :lol: :lol: :lol: 
terry


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## Kelcat (Apr 20, 2008)

Wow - nice set of priorities guys :roll:


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## 96299 (Sep 15, 2005)

b16duv said:


> Chigman said:
> 
> 
> > zulurita said:
> ...


Gotta think of number one mate.They wont be thinking of me thats for sure.

By the way.Do you have "Judder" ? :roll:

steve


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## moblee (Dec 31, 2006)

Dear dear Who's next :?: It's all doom & gloom nowadays :!: :!:  

My fiat drives like a Dream in forward or reverse :!:


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## jams101 (Dec 22, 2006)

Chigman said:


> b16duv said:
> 
> 
> > Chigman said:
> ...


I am sure they have Stocking Finance, the same as everyone else. Your local Ford, Volkswagen, Mitsubishi whatever, they get the car on a finance deal it sits on the forecourt the dealer gets the interest paid by the manufacturer for a set period of time usually 30 days, then the dealer gets hit for the interest on the vehicle. Demos will have a longer time where the interest is paid by the manufacturer.

Ford, Porsche and likely others have there own banks, used to be the case that a rep would call to check that the cars on stocking finance where still there. So no one pays for them (will the bank does) until they go to the end customer, some small guys I would have dealt with would clear the cars as soon as the manufacturers interest payment ended. But if you have a 100 cars averging 15k each......well no business ties up that sort of capital, it is borrowed because you can claim the interest as an expense against tax....


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## Telbell (May 1, 2005)

> My fiat drives like a Dream in forward or reverse


Moblee- so you won't be registering your vehicle with Fiat for any modifications needed to this vehicle? :wink:


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## moblee (Dec 31, 2006)

The only modification I'd require is a *newer* reg :lol: :lol:


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## maddie (Jan 4, 2006)

:lol: It's the newer reg ones that suffer with leaks and judder :lol: 
terry


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## moblee (Dec 31, 2006)

:lol: :lol:


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## bigfoot (May 16, 2005)

[quote="b16duv
Yeah, let's make sure the judder gets sorted out, never mind the 50,000 people being laid off!!!!!!!!![/quote]
Itwas some of that 50,000 that probably designed the inadequate gearbox and clutch,or at least authorised its installation!!

My judderer cost in excess of £50k,If I give them a couple of quid will they do my faults first?


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## 115043 (Aug 1, 2008)

i think these motorhome manufacturers buy in bulk from the base vehicle suppliers, and negotiate very good deals with them.
hence so many fiat based motorhomes out there, fiat have always been receptive to doing a deal.
you don't think the motorhome manufacturers use a lot of fiats because they think they are any better than other makes.
if you do well :lol: .
fiat as acompany has been in trouble for years, and has been trying to do deals with other companies G M at one stage but that fell through.
good luck to all you fiat base vehicle owners, and i hope you get your problems sorted.
i have a ford transit based motorhome and it's superb, far better than the previous fiat 2.8 jtd which always ran out of puff going up hills.
and the tranny is just like driving a car


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

As long as you remember that your Ford Transit "car" is over 2metres wide and about 6metres long...........!


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## 115043 (Aug 1, 2008)

hi pippin.
iv'e been driving p s v vehicles for over 20 years so something 2.3m by 7.24m doesn't hold any fears for me.
iv'e been driving fiat cars for over 20 years
2 fiat puntos
4 fiat unos
1 fiat tempra estate
2fiat marea's one 1.9 jtd (superb)
2 fiat tipo's
2fiat bravo's
and 2 fiat punto's
one that i still have, they are great budjet cars and i love them. never bought a new one always 6 months old when prices are quite reasonable.
the 1.9 jtd is an exellent engine, but i wouldn't buy a motorhome with this engine.
i find it quite funny that fiat whose cars people like to ctitisize are widely accepted as the best motorhome chassis :lol:  

live long and prosper :wink:


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## duxdeluxe (Sep 2, 2007)

viator said:


> See news cutting from Daily Mail 9/12/08.
> 
> viator


For my sins I used to work at the same outfit as Sergio Marchionne (he was my boss) - he is without doubt the most impressive man I have ever met. I would be interested to see who Fiat would partner with - GM should be a favorite as they have a long relationship (not forgetting that he screwed them for $2billion) with joint ventures. This is after GM merge with Chrysler and go into chapter 11(it will happen - the yanks build too many vehicles that people don't want. I rent a lot of them.). Mercedes must be laughing into their beer steins.

Certainly the only way forward is for massive consolidation. Now, how is that going to affect the industry?

1) Chassis choice is effectively Sevel, Merc, Transit. Can anyone see those joining up or disappearing? Don't think so.
2) Converters. Already effectively consolidated really, with the Swift, Hymer and Trigano brands effectively dominating the market
3) Only an opinion but all of the above are big enough to draw in their horns and cut their costs to weather the storm for a couple of years
4) The American RV industry will implode. Last dealer I spoke to (Houston) hadn't made a sale for 2 weeks. Winnebago already downsizing but they are heavily reliant on their own resources for everything (made in house) which drives up costs. Dealers have yards just full of unsold stock which they never will sell until people's retirement funds show some sign of life.
5) Even with Euro/sterling parity coming, hard credit and the high cost of components, dealers will be willing to shift stock at lower margins so we may not see price increases as bad as predicted
6) Secondhand market should be depressed but maybe previously new buyers will go for nearly new, keeping prices a bit higher.

All the above is just supposition - anyone else care to pitch in? One thing is for sure - Fiat will survive with Sergio at the helm. I'd bet on that one.


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## 111728 (Apr 28, 2008)

I cannot speak for large corporations with national ties and bailouts. Whatever brand, politics will play a bigger part with these companies.

I find it amusing that people ignore what is happening. The whole global economy has been over-cooked and the 'fat' not the crap has hit the ceiling not the fan.

Most companies will have no alternative other then to shape them (downsize) to the same stage they were at when their market was last at its current state. However, some over borrowed highly geared companies will have little choice just trying to survive sevicing their debt.

Fiat will be treated like Ailtalia. It is a national item and as such passions will rise to keep it, how, I have no idea. But the same is occuring in Sweden, I am sure here and obviously america.

Once they are reshaped, they will continue.


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## duxdeluxe (Sep 2, 2007)

OK so I am a fan of the man but Sergio did for Fiat which no-one ever did for Alitalia - they made a profit!

Fiat are basically owned by the Angelli family (which also own a large chunk of my outift) so really can't be fairly compared with the basket case called Alitalia...........

Agree with what you say though..... there is nothing like national and especially Italian passion is there?


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## 111728 (Apr 28, 2008)

luxdux?

You should be more concerned that your favoured 'Lunar' have suspended motorhome production-that will have a more adverse effect on your residual value of your camper. Then your favoured MD/CEO at Fiat!


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## duxdeluxe (Sep 2, 2007)

Why should I be concerned? I have paid for it and there is nothing that I can do about the current or future value of it, so there is no point in worrying. Similarly I don't get in a panic that my house has dropped in value by 20%, which is about 3 MH's worth. Both the above "losses" are on paper and only become a loss when converted into cash. That won't happen since I have no intention of selling either just yet.


Sadly, Lunar are one of the companies that do not have the buying clout of the bigger ones and are therefore more vulnerable in these times.


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## 110282 (Mar 1, 2008)

*Fiat Closure*

Does anyone know if Fiat have re-opened their factories after the December/January close down?
Thanks, Bill


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## eddied (May 9, 2005)

I believe they have,but also a lot on reduced pay lay-off. I understand a few may have emigrated to a funny little place in GB called Grimbsby?
saluti,
eddied


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## UncleNorm (May 1, 2005)

Hey, now come on Eddied, spell it right... GRIM SBY = GRIMSBY.

It's proper name is GREAT Grimsby!! :roll: 

Are you saying that's where the workers have migrated to, Autotrail? Wow! :wink:


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## maddie (Jan 4, 2006)

:lol: more like on a hotel barge outside a Total refinery :lol: 
terry


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