Re: [alfa] Ferrari leaving and taking Alfa....

[Richard Welty <rwelty@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 09 Aug 2004 22:01:30 -0700 Eric Storhok <alfa@domain.elided> wrote:
> So why would Fiat SPA 1) let a profitable arm of Auto, and 2) let 
> profitable Ferrari go?  I just don't see it.  That would also make Fiat 
> Auto that much less profitable.  It may, over time, start making money 
> again, but it would be tough when you let go money....

i can see one counterargument.

the old cliche is "it takes money to make money". the only way
left to fiat to raise money right now, i should think, is by selling
assets. the only assets that they have that anyone would really
want are Ferrari/Maserati and Alfa.

either they sell to another automaker, or they spin them off as a
new public company. either one would raise a fair chunk of change
that Fiat could then apply towards fixing the things currently
wrong with the Fiat and Lancia brands.

Fiat cannot survive for long in its present state. Ferrari/Maserati
are a profitable niche product, but only a niche product,
and Alfa by itself can't save the main business. dismembering
themselves may end up being the exit plan. those of us in the
IT industry certainly remember DEC dismantling itself, selling
off the bits of the company that were worth buying (and there
were some very good bits there, it was just that the company
as a whole didn't work any more.)

richard
-- 
Richard Welty                                         rwelty@domain.elided
Averill Park Networking                                         518-573-7592
    Java, PHP, PostgreSQL, Unix, Linux, IP Network Engineering, Security
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