Italy automotive industry

The first automobile companies appeared in the Kingdom of Italy at the end of the 19th century . One of the oldest, existing Italian automobile companies, is Fiat , founded by Giovanni Agnelli . The first production car under this brand appeared in 1899 . Today, Fiat is the country's largest car manufacturer, also owning other Italian car brands. By the first decade of the 20th century , dozens of automobile companies appeared in Italy. Only in one industrial center, the city of Turin, by the 1910s, their number exceeded ten. Most of them lasted from one and a half years, to several decades, and have not survived to our time. Among them we can distinguish such now forgotten companies as: Prinetti Stucchi & C., Fabbrica Automobili Storero, Società Anonima Vetture Temperino, Società Torinese Automobili Elettrici, Fabbrica Torinese Velivoli Chiribiri & C., Aquila Italiana, Isotta Fraschini, Zust, etc.

Italy met the First World War with the beginning of the motorization of its army. For her needs, the country's automobile companies produced trucks, armored cars, and even the first tanks. In the 1920s, the rapid development of the automotive industry began. A rapidly growing society was able to afford a car - at that time a very expensive "toy". The development of motorsport has also affected the Italian automotive industry. A brand like Alfa Romeo has become the leader of Italians in sports . Active export of Italian cars abroad, including to the USSR, has also begun.

The Great Depression affected all of Europe. Due to the severe economic crisis, many automobile brands of the country went bankrupt, most of the remaining were on the verge of bankruptcy. To preserve industry, the government nationalized most automobile companies. By the mid-1930s, the main manufacturers of Italian cars were: Fiat , Alfa Romeo , Lancia . However, the rapid militarization and industrialization organized by the fascist government made it possible for these companies to produce not only cars, but also trucks, buses, railway transport, as well as armored vehicles for the army, as is the case with the Fiat-Ansaldo consortium.

In the 1930s, Fiat cars were licensed in countries such as: Poland (Polski-Fiat), France (Simca-Fiat) and Germany (NSU-Fiat). World War II seriously affected the automotive industry of Italy. Since all its plants were connected with military orders, the Allies bombed most of the country's machine-building enterprises.

After the war, a new stage in the development of automotive industry in Italy began. A bet was made on elite sports cars aimed primarily at export, including to the United States . In the 1950s and 1960s, such well-known brands as Ferrari , Lamborghini , Maserati appeared . There was a distribution of car production by class between companies. So Fiat became the manufacturer of mostly affordable budget cars, including the popular 500 and 600 model minicars. Alfa Romeo produced sports and regular cars for the middle class, Lancia produced premium cars. Then in the 1950s, the geography of exports of Italian cars expanded. Markets became North and South America, Asia, Africa. In Spain, Seat began its business with the release of licensed Fiat cars. In Austria it was Puch , in Poland Polski-Fiat , in Yugoslavia Zastava . The Brazilian automaker FNM took control of Afla Romeo.

In 1966, Fiat and the Soviet government signed an agreement on the construction of a car factory in the USSR and the opening of a network of modern car services. So AvtoVAZ appeared. The Italian auto industry and other countries of the socialist bloc have not ignored. In Poland, a number of licensed Fiat cars have been produced for a long time. The body of the Polonez was designed by the Italian bodybuilder studio Centro Stile Fiat. The Czechoslovak Skoda Favorit was created in the Bertone bodywork studio. The East German Wartburg 353 was created by Michelotti.

The beginning of the 1970s marked an economic crisis, as a result of which the automakers of many European countries had to unite. Manufacturers of commercial vehicles in Italy, Germany and France founded IVECO Corporation, one of the largest truck and bus manufacturers in Europe. Fiat bought out Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari. In the 1980s, the Italian company Fiat collaborated with the Swedish automaker SAAB , as a result of which three models were created on one platform at once: Fiat Croma , Lancia Thema and SAAB 9000 . It is worth noting that the Italian auto industry is not limited to only one automotive company. There are also dozens of bodywork studios whose designers have used the services of car manufacturers all over the world, including in the USA. Many American and European cars of the 1950-1960s, the time of the so-called "automobile baroque" were created by Italian car designers of such well-known companies as: Ghia , Bertone , Italdesign, Frua, Castagna. Also in Italy, there are many tuning studios. Among them are such famous as Abarth , De Tomaso , Bizzarrini .

Role in the development of the automobile industry of the USSR and Russia

One and a half cars of the AMO-F-15 truck can be considered one of the first cars created in the USSR. It was created on the basis of one of the most popular Italian trucks Fiat 15 Ter , the production of which was planned to be mastered in Moscow at the AMO plant. AMO-F-15 was not a licensed copy and was adapted by Soviet engineers and designers for difficult Russian conditions. In the 1920s and 1930s, cars of the brands Fiat , Lancia , SPA , Isotta Fraschini were exported to the USSR. Also, ready-made truck chassis were purchased for the installation of domestic bus bodies, including open ones for resorts and health resorts in the south of the USSR.

In 1970, a new Volga Automobile Plant in Togliatti, which mastered the production of Zhiguli cars, was put into operation, the prototype of which was the Fiat 124 car , which received the title of “European Car of 1966”. Also, Italian experts, in addition to designing and equipping the plant, created a wide network of service stations for this brand, equipping them with the most modern equipment and tools at that time. In the late 1990s, it was planned to produce Fiat cars at the Gorky Automobile Plant , but the parties did not agree.

The Italian car industry left its mark in Soviet literature. In Ilf and Petrov ’s novel “The Golden Calf”, the driver of the Antelope car Adam Kozlevich dreamed of a car of the Italian brand Isotta Fraschini , at that time a manufacturer of very expensive and exclusive cars.

1930s - 1940s

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  Fiat 500 Topolino (1936-1951)

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  Fiat 508 Ballila (1932-1937)

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  Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Sport Berlinetta (1939)

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  Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Speciale (1938)

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  Lancia Aprilia (1937-1949)

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  Lancia Astura (1938)

1950s

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  Fiat 500 (1955-1975)

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  Lancia Aurelia (1950-1958)

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  Alfa Romeo 1900 Srint Cabriolet Pininfarina (1953)

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  Maserati A6GCS / 54 (1954)

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  Ferrari 250 Europa Vignali Coupe (1953)

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  Ferrari 246 Formula 1 (1958)

1960s

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  Fiat 124 (1964-1972)

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  Lancia Flavia (1961-1971)

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  Alfa Romeo 1750 Berlina (1968-1977)

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  Maserati Quattroporte (1963-1970)

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  Ferrari 275 (1964-1968)

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  Lamborghini Miura (1966-1973)

1970s

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  Fiat 131 Marafiori (1974-1985)

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  Lancia Beta Berlina (1972-1984)

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  Alfa Romeo Alfetta (1972-1984)

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  Maserati Khamsin (1974-1982)

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  Ferrari 308 (1975-1985)

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  Lamborghini Countach (1974-1990)

1980s

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  Fiat Croma (1985-1996)

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  Lancia Thema (1984-1994)

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  Alfa Romeo 75 (1985-1992)

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  Maserati Biturbo (1981-1994)

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  Ferrari Testarossa (1984-1996)

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  Lamborghini Jalpa (1981-1988)

1990s

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  Fiat Brava (1995-2001)

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  Lancia Kappa (1994-2000)

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  Alfa Romeo GTV (1994-2004)

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  Maserati Ghibli (1992-1998)

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  Ferrari F50 (1995-1997)

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  Lamborghini Diablo (1990-2001)

2000s

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  Fiat Stilo (2001-2007)

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  Lancia Thesis (2001-2009)

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  Alfa Romeo 159 (2005-2011)

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  Maserati Spyder (2001-2007)

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  Ferrari California (2008-2014)

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  Lamborghini Gallardo (2003-2013)

2010s

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  Fiat 124 Spider (since 2016)

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  Lancia Ypsilon (2011-2018)

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  Alfa Romeo Stelvio (c 2017)

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  Maserati Levante (c 2016)

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  Ferrari 488 GTB (c 2015)

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  Lamborghini Huracan (c 2014)

• Fiat 124 in 1966
• Fiat 128 in 1970
• Fiat 127 in 1972
• Lancia Delta in 1980
• Fiat Uno in 1984
• Fiat Tipo in 1989
• Fiat Punto in 1995
• Fiat Bravo / Brava in 1996
• Alfa Romeo 156 in 1998
• Alfa Romeo 147 in 2001
• Fiat Panda in 2004
• Fiat 500 in 2008

Existing

Preexisting

• Giovanni Agnelli
• Gianni Agnelli
• Nikola Romeo
• Giuseppe Bertone
• Vincenzo Lancia
• Enzo Ferrari
• Ferruccio Lamborghini
• Carlo Abarth
• Giorgetto Giugiaro
• Joacchino Colombo
• Vittorio Yano
• Walter Maria de Silva
• Horatio Pagani

• International Exhibition of Automobiles and Motorcycles in Bologna
• Turin Motor Show

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