Fiat Cars | Complete Fiat Company History

Fiat was founded in 1899, during the industrialization of Italy. Ever since the company first was established, Fiat's vehicles, have been carefully developed and internationally recognized. Giovanni Agnelli, who was on the Board of Directors distinguished himself at Fiat as an innovator. He knew that the company could be highly successful and everyone at the company saw his potential.

At it was because of this potential that the company made him Managing Director of Fiat. The first factory opened in 1900 and had 150 workers. They created 24 cars the first year. And the logo was created 4 years later in 1904. In 1908, Fiat created a company in America called "Fiat Automobile Company". The company was successful due to their cars being labeled as luxury cars. The company was so successful that they decided to increase it's line of products to include trucks, marine engines and vehicles for commercial use.

During WWII, Fiat supplied the Allied Forces with vital equipment such as vehicles, planes and weapons. In 1921, Giovanni Agnelli became Fiat's CEO and the four seat 509 was introduced along with a few other models. And by 1925, the company grew at such as fast pace that they started providing health care plans to their employees, and a holding company that allowed customers to pay for their Fiat car in installments.

In the mid 1930s, Fiat introduced the Topolino and the Tariffa Minima, with he latter selling very well due to its high gas mileage. By the time WWII had ended, Giovanni Agnelli had passed away (in 1945) and Vittorio Valletta became the new CEO. During the war, lots of Fiat factories were destroyed but reconstruction started in 1948.

By the 1970s Fiat had become a powerhouse in the automotive industry due to the list of companies they acquired. Companies such as Ferrari, Alpha Romeo, Maserati and Lancia all became a part of Fiat. In the 90s, they introduced the Tempra, the 500, the Coupe and the Punto. In 1995, the Punto won European Car of the Year.

During the 90s, the company had to find a way to deal with the increase competition that had entered the automotive field. So they decided to focus more on international sales. And by doing that, Fiat became known as one of the most affordable car rands worldwide. This new strategy eventually led to the company getting 60 percent of it's sales internationally. Also, they decided to change the logo from oval to a more circular shape to commemorate their 100 year anniversary.