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Fiat Serbia

For other uses, see Zastava Automobiles.

43°59′59.56″N 20°54′7.43″E / 43.9998778°N 20.9020639°E / 43.9998778; 20.9020639 Fiat Serbia (Serbian: ФИАТ Србија, romanized: FIAT Srbija, lit. 'FIAT Serbia', formerly FIAT Automobiles Serbia[a] (FAS) from 2008 to 2014, then FCA Serbia[b] (FCAS) until 2021) is a Serbian automotive manufacturing company based in Kragujevac, Serbia. It is a joint venture (JV) between the ex-Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), merged into Stellantis in 2021, which owns 67% of the operation, and the Republic of Serbia, which owns the remainder.

Fiat Serbia
FormerlyFCA Serbia
Company typeJoint venture
IndustryAutomotive
PredecessorFormer site of Zastava Automobiles (1953–2008)
Founded14 October 2008; 16 years ago (2008-10-14) (Founded)
Headquarters
Kragujevac
,
Serbia
Key people
Silvia Vernetti (CEO)
ProductsFiat 500L
Fiat Grande Panda
Production output
459,975 units (2008–2018)[2]
RevenueDecrease €543.52 million (2019)[3]
Decrease €1.35 million (2019)[3]
Total assetsDecrease €565.03 billion (2019)[4]
Total equityIncrease €316.81 million (2019)[4]
OwnerStellantis Italy (67%)
Government of Serbia (33%)
Number of employees
2,195 (2019)
SubsidiariesSlobodna Zona FAS d.o.o.[5]
Websitefiat.rs
Footnotes / references
Business ID: 20468122
Tax ID: 105808309 [6]
External images
image icon FIAT Headquarters Building
image icon FIAT Site Plan
image icon FIAT Assembly line
image icon FIAT Assembly line
image icon FIAT Assembly line
image icon FIAT Sculpture, Kragujevac

The company headquarters and assembly plant are located on the former site of Zastava Automobiles (1953–2008) – 70 miles south of Belgrade on the Lepenica river in the country's central Šumadija region. Heavily damaged during the NATO Bombing of Yugoslavia, the factory was completely renovated and modernized, reopening in April 2012[7] as one of Europe's state of the art car factories.[8][9]

The operation currently has roughly 2,000 employees and works closely with 15 other companies and component suppliers, many located at the adjacent Grosnica Supplier Park — with a combined workforce of roughly 6,000 tied to production at Fiat Serbia. The factory has a daily output of roughly 400 cars.[10]

The JV is the largest foreign industrial investment in Serbia[11] and as the country's largest exporter, with exports valued at 1 billion euro ($1.1 billion) in 2016.[11]

Vehicles produced

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Current

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Former

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Fiat 500L, European model

Background

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From 1955 to 2008, the Kragujevac plant manufactured Zastava Automobiles under the Zastava, Yugo, and Fiat brands. Serbia's central Šumadija region was severely impacted in the 1990s by the collapse of Yugoslavia, as well as the subsequent war and its sanctions. The factory buildings were severely damaged in 1999 during the Kosovar War by NATO bombings.

By the early 2000s, automotive companies began opening new manufacturing plants in nearby Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia — representing brands including Audi, Mercedes Benz, Renault, and Suzuki.[16] Manufacturing costs in Serbia were projected at one fifth those of Italy and half of those in Poland.[17]

In April 2008, Fiat reached an agreement to purchase the damaged Kragujevac plant, completing a joint venture with the Republic of Serbia that same year and renaming the company Fiat Automobili Srbija (FAS).[a]

Fiat pledged €700 million in return for a 67 percent stake in the company (then owned by the state) and an additional €100 million investment by the Serbian government.[18] This was later increased to €300 million. Fiat pledged not to cut jobs and to pay a backlog in wage payments, saying the plant would become a dedicated Fiat production site with a maximum production capacity of 330,000 units.

In the end, the financing consisted of an investment by the government of Serbia of more than €300 million, partially financed from credit of €500 million in credit given by European Investment Bank with Republic of Serbia guarantees for €300 million while €200 million of the same credit line guaranteed by Servizi Assicurativi del Commercio Estero (SACE).[19][20]

While the joint venture contract is not publicized,[21] Fiat is exempt from employee income tax and social security contributions, Serbia's profit tax for 10 years from the first year, and property taxes, among others.[21]

In 2013, wages at Fiat were one fifth of Italian wages and one third of Polish wages.[13] Kragujevac also offers beneficial transport links and close proximity to European markets.[13] North American models are exported by rail and ship from the port of Bar, Montenegro.[22]

Company logo from 2014 to 2021

When FAS became a subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014, the factory was renamed FCA Serbia (FCAS).[b]

The original joint venture agreement between Serbia and Fiat expired on 31 December 2018,[23] but got renewed. In 2018, FCA Srbija was Serbia's second largest (gross) exporter, at €714.1 — behind HBIS Group, owner of Smederevo Ironworks.[24]

In 2021, following FCA merger into Stellantis, the Serbian company has been renamed Fiat Serbia.[c]

Plant

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Between 2010 and 2012, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the Government of Serbia invested more than €500 million and spent three years upgrading the plant infrastructure, restored its buildings, developed new production departments and installed state of the art machinery and production systems.

The renovated Kragujevac plant incorporates 51 buildings total[25] and five primary process-related buildings — with an area of approximately 220,000 square meters[26] covering more than 140 hectares[27] adjacent to the Lepenica river.

Renovation included architectural, structural, geo-technical, mechanical, and electrical work as well as public health design, seismic retrofit design, fluid tank design, and pipe-rack bridge design.[26] The new work included planting 1,000 native trees in the factory area and creating a bio-lake hosting several endangered species.[28]

In 2013 the plant employed 3,800 workers with an average age of 30,[13] and incorporates "World Class Manufacturing" standards at the silver level.[25]

The Fiat headquarters (building 18c) has a ground floor museum, a permanent exhibition highlighting the history of the site and Kragujevac — along with a training academy as well as corporate and manufacturing offices.[29] A nearby building has an on-site kindergarten for employee families.

The co-located Grosnica Supplier Park[30] includes sub-works for Magneti Marelli (bumpers, spoilers, exhaust systems and catalytic converters), Johnson Controls MM (instrument panels, interior, interior parts and plastic parts), Dräxlmaier (electrical), with other plants nearby, including Adient (seats), PMC (suspension systems, sheet metal stampings and chassis assemblies), SIGIT (rubber and plastic parts) as well as HTL.[31]

Layoff, strike and stoppages

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In June 2016, Fiat Serbia laid off nearly 30 percent of its workforce and ended one of its three shifts.[32] At the time, the plant employed 3,100 with up to 900 workers per shift.[32] European sales of the 500L had fallen by 16 percent in the first quarter of 2016.[32]

On 27 June 2017, after two days of protests, 90% of the workforce at Fiat Serbia began a strike that ended just over two weeks later. Workers demanded an hourly wage increase from 2 to 2,40 euros, paid overtime, an end to layoffs, a work reorganization, and compensation allowance for shifts that start or finish at night, from 10 PM to 5 AM, when the public transportation isn't operating. Two unions supported the strike, the Autonomous Metalworkers’ Union of Serbia (SSMS) and the Industry, Energy and Mining Workers’ Union, GS IER Nezavisnost. The strike halted the factory's 440 car-per-day production.[33][34]

By late March 2018, Fiat Serbia had undergone four plant closures to adjust supply to demand — the last of the stoppages from March 23 to April 3, 2018 (as of April 2018).[35]

In May 2022, Fiat management announced that they intend to close and refurbish the plant in order to produce a new electric car beginning with 2024. Until then, workers have been offered to either relocate to a Fiat plant abroad (Italy, Germany, Poland, Slovakia), where they can earn three times more, or to accept a layoff severance pay.[36]

See also

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Notes and references

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b Serbian: ФИАТ Аутомобипу Србија, romanized: FIAT Automobili Srbija, lit. 'FIAT Automobiles Serbia'.[1]
  2. ^ a b Serbian: ФКА Србија, romanized: FCA Srbija, lit. 'FCA Serbia'.[1]
  3. ^ Serbian: ФИАТ Србија, romanized: FIAT Srbija, lit. 'FIAT Serbia'.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Fiat Serbia renamed to "FCA"". 20 March 2015. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  2. ^ "KG: Za 7 godina napravili pola miliona FIAT-a 500L – šta im donosi budućnost?" (in Serbian). 16 August 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  3. ^ a b "КОНСОЛИДОВАНИ БИЛАНС УСПЕХА (2019) – FCA Srbija". apr.gov.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 9 December 2020.[permanent dead link‍]
  4. ^ a b "КОНСОЛИДОВАНИ БИЛАНС СТАЊА (2019) – FCA Srbija". apr.gov.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 9 December 2020.[permanent dead link‍]
  5. ^ "Slobodna zona FAS d.o.o. Kragujevac". ekapija.com (in Serbian). Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  6. ^ Основни подаци о привредном друштву. apr.gov.rs (in Serbian). Serbian Business Registers Agency. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  7. ^ "FIAT 500L: 500 GOES LARGE". Fiat Press. 28 February 2013.
  8. ^ "Factory "Fiat Cars" in Kragujevcu". The Elnos Group.
  9. ^ Žikica Milošević (23 February 2016). "Alessio Leonardi is the new CEO of "FCA Srbija"". Diplomacyandcommerce.rs.
  10. ^ "Fiat Serbia strike ends, negotiations kick off". Euractiv. 20 July 2017.
  11. ^ a b Radomir Ralev (25 May 2017). "FCA Srbija JV starts production of Fiat 500L in Kragujevac". Seenew.com.
  12. ^ "Fiat Grande Panda: We know when production will start". 27 June 2024.
  13. ^ a b c d "Balkan legacy Fiat goes east to lower costs". The Economist. 2 November 2013.
  14. ^ "500,000th Fiat 500L Rolls Off Production Line". FCA Press Released. 22 February 2018. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  15. ^ "Kragujevac: Workers "expected more"". B92 News. 31 January 2009. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  16. ^ John Mackedo and Lazar Šestović (4 May 2016). "From forgotten Yugos to new engines of growth: Reviving the car industry in South East Europe". Worldbank.
  17. ^ Stefano Giantin (18 August 2012). "The Fiat 500L made in Serbia lands in Europe (trans. from Italian)". Il Picollo.
  18. ^ "Fiat Investing $1b into Zastava". Macedoniaonline.eu. 28 July 2008. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  19. ^ "Serbia: EUR 650 million loans for SMEs, Mid-caps and Fiat Auto Serbia". European Investment Bank.
  20. ^ "Press corner". European Commission – European Commission.
  21. ^ a b "The new model of Fiat is made in Serbia through the old system of state subsidies". Insajder Production. 26 May 2017.
  22. ^ "Fiat ships 500L to North America". Automotive Logistics. 5 June 2013.
  23. ^ "The new model of Fiat is made in Serbia through the old system of state subsidies". 26 May 2017.
  24. ^ "Železara iz Smedereva prvi put najveći izvoznik, slede Fijat i NIS". n1info.com (in Serbian). Beta. 19 February 2019. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  25. ^ a b Giovanni De Filippis, Fiat Automobiles Serbia CEO (25 May 2010). "FIAT Automobiles Serbia". Fiat Group.
  26. ^ a b "Refurbishing the Fiat Zastava Car Manufacturing Plant in Kragujevac". Arup Group.
  27. ^ "Plasticwood.it in the green design project of the new Fiat plant of Kragujevac, Serbia". Plasticwood.it. 11 July 2012.
  28. ^ "Sabiana goes to Serbia with the Fiat 500L". Sabiana.it.
  29. ^ "Fiat Serbia". Piustudio.it.
  30. ^ "Johnson Controls Inaugurates New Seating Plant". 7 June 2011. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  31. ^ "Kragujevac: Nine Factories Working For Fiat". In Serbia. 3 June 2013.[permanent dead link‍]
  32. ^ a b c Ivana Sekularac (15 June 2016). "Fiat Chrysler to lay off 30% of workforce at 500L plant in Serbia". Automobile News.
  33. ^ "Two thousand Serbian FIAT workers take strike action". Industriall-union.org. 7 June 2017.
  34. ^ "Serbia premier: Workers at Fiat plant in agree to end the strike". National Post. 18 July 2017.
  35. ^ "Production at Fiat Kragujevac halted until April 3". Ekapija.com. 26 March 2018.
  36. ^ "Vučićeva "svetla budućnost Fijata": Otkazi i gašenje fabrike". Danas. 14 May 2022.
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