Chrysler 2000 Annual Report Download - page 11

umbrella a wealth of business service competencies that the
Fiat Group had developed over the years to address internal
needs. Business Solutions’ mission is to transform internal
organizations created to serve the needs of Group Sectors
into businesses focused on the outside market. Its spectrum
of services and systems includes administration services,
human resources management, facilities and utilities
management, real estate services, information and
communication technology services, and e-procurement.
The Group is confident that by the middle of the current
decade, the combined service revenues generated by the
individual Sectors, by Business Solutions and by Toro
Assicurazioni will be equivalent to about 40% of its total sales.
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IS INCREASING
The final test of a company’s excellence is the satisfaction
of its customers. We are working hard to make the entire
Company gravitate toward this objective and are committed
to achieving a steady improvement in this area.
Since 1999, customer satisfaction has been one of the key
yardsticks of the Group’s management incentive program. All
Sectors constantly monitor the performance of their products
and services through the use of special indicators and surveys
that record customer perception of the Group’s ability to
innovate, deliver quality, provide timely responses and meet
customer needs.
These ongoing monitoring programs have produced a fairly
homogeneous trend toward improvement. In recent years,
the customer satisfaction index has increased by about 3%
for Fiat Auto and Iveco and by more than 5% for CNH, despite
the obvious problems this Sector has had to tackle while
integrating the operations of Case and New Holland.
THE GROUP’S STRENGTH IN THE EMERGING MARKETS
IS GROWING
For years, the Group has pursued a strategy of steadily
increasing its presence in new markets with high growth
potential, including Poland, Russia, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina,
India and China.
The globalization effort, which can produce more costs than
benefits over an initial period of varying length, must be
viewed as an investment in the future that is consistent with
the Group’s proven ability to develop a range of products that
are ideally suited to improve personal mobility, help mechanize
agriculture and facilitate the distribution of goods in developing
countries. Fiat’s record of success in these areas constitutes
an important competitive advantage that must be exploited
with a highly flexible approach, taking into account the risks
inherent in establishing a presence in countries that are more
exposed to dips in the economic cycle.
With this in mind, the Group is carrying out an in-depth
restructuring of its manufacturing organization in Argentina,
with the goal of repeating in this country the turnaround
that is already taking place in Brazil.
The high domestic content of products manufactured in
Turkey, most of which are exported, is to a large extent
neutralizing the negative impact of the devaluation of the
local currency.
In China, where Iveco has been operating successfully for the
last 10 years, Fiat Auto will launch the Palio during the second
half of 2001; CNH will soon establish a second joint venture
for the production of intermediate/light tractors; and Teksid
is about to inaugurate its third foundry.
THE GROUP IS MAKING EVERY EFFORT TO FULLY
EXPLOIT THE POTENTIAL OF ICT
The growing popularity within the Group of the new way
of working made possible by the massive deployment of
information and communication technology (ICT) produced
a significant increase in efficiency, productivity and service
quality.
– Human Resources
– Administration Services and Corporate Consulting
– Utilities, Facilities & Property Management
– Information and Communication Technology
– E-Procurement, Marketplace and Procurement Center