Chrysler 2012 Annual Report Download - page 19

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Group Brands The Group
at a Glance
Group Brands
A pioneer of the European automotive industry, Fiat – in its more than century long history – has built
and sold nearly 100 million passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. Models produced by the
Group have been named European “Car of the Year” 12 times.
Founded in 1925, Chrysler is a leading U.S. automaker with a tradition of innovation combined with
solid engineering that has produced some of the automotive world’s most celebrated models.
In 2009, the two groups formed an alliance, which in 2011 led to Fiat taking a majority interest in
Chrysler. That partnership has brought enormous benefits to both groups including: the critical
mass necessary to achieve large economies of scale, the potential to increase volumes on individual
vehicle platforms and improve returns on investment, as well as the ability to offer a full model
range, by combining Fiat’s expertise in the smaller car segments with Chrysler’s know-how in the
mid- and full-size segments. Consistent with the operational integration of Fiat and Chrysler, in 2011
the Group established a new organizational structure suited to the global scale of the business,
with four operating regions for the mass-market car brands – NAFTA (U.S., Canada and Mexico),
LATAM (Central and South America), APAC (Asia Pacific) and EMEA (Europe, the Middle East
and Africa) – and two operating segments with a global remit – the first focused on development,
production and sale of luxury and performance cars (Ferrari and Maserati) and the second focused
on the production and sale of components and production systems for the automotive industry
(Magneti Marelli, Teksid and Comau).