A few years ago, Fiat Auto struggled with the same kind of challenges that Chrysler LLC faces now. Its rivals expected the Italian automaker to collapse. Auto analysts said Fiat's quality lapses, its lopsided model range, its reliance on its home market and mounting losses had caught up finally with the company.
When Fiat SpA hired Sergio Marchionne, an Italian-Canadian businessman with scarcely any automotive experience, to run the group, Fiat Auto's prospects seemed gloomy indeed.
"Fiat was on the verge of collapse when he took over in 2004," said Pierluigi Bellini, an auto analyst with IHS Global Insight's offices in Milan. But "he did a very good job in a desperate situation."
In the cutthroat Western European auto market, Fiat has boosted its share to 8.2 percent from 6.6 percent in 2004, and it is a consistently profitable company now.
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