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Fiat Serbia
Serbian automobile manufacturing company

43°59′59.56″N 20°54′7.43″E / 43.9998778°N 20.9020639°E / 43.9998778; 20.9020639

FCA Serbia , formerly FIAT Automobiles Serbia (FAS) from 2008 to 2014, 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.

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 as one of Europe's state of the art car factories.

As of 2023, the operation has roughly 670 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.

During the 2010s, the JV used to be the largest foreign industrial investment in Serbia and the country's largest exporter, with exports valued at 1 billion euro ($1.1 billion) in 2016.

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Vehicles produced

Current

  • Fiat Grande Panda (July 2024 – present), a five-door, five passenger, front-engine, front-wheel drive, high-roof B-segment crossover.8

Former

  • Fiat 500L (2012–2022), a five-door, five passenger, front-engine, front-wheel drive, high-roof B-segment MPV, which Stellantis markets globally in more than 100 countries — with the notable exception of Russia.9 By early 2018, production surpassed 500,000 units.10
  • Fiat Punto Classic (2009–2011, 2013)11

Background

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.12 Manufacturing costs in Serbia were projected at one fifth those of Italy and half of those in Poland.13

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).14

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.15 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).1617

While the joint venture contract is not publicized,18 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.19

In 2013, wages at Fiat were one fifth of Italian wages and one third of Polish wages.20 Kragujevac also offers beneficial transport links and close proximity to European markets.21 North American models are exported by rail and ship from the port of Bar, Montenegro.22

When FAS became a subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014, the factory was renamed FCA Serbia (FCAS).23

The original joint venture agreement between Serbia and Fiat expired on 31 December 2018,24 but got renewed. In 2018, FCA Srbija was Serbia's second largest (gross) exporter, at €714.1 — behind HBIS Group, owner of Smederevo Ironworks.25

In 2021, following FCA merger into Stellantis, the Serbian company has been renamed Fiat Serbia.26

Plant

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 total27 and five primary process-related buildings — with an area of approximately 220,000 square meters28 covering more than 140 hectares29 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.30 The new work included planting 1,000 native trees in the factory area and creating a bio-lake hosting several endangered species.31

In 2013 the plant employed 3,800 workers with an average age of 30,32 and incorporates "World Class Manufacturing" standards at the silver level.33

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.34 A nearby building has an on-site kindergarten for employee families.

The co-located Grosnica Supplier Park35 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.36

Layoff, strike and stoppages

In June 2016, Fiat Serbia laid off nearly 30 percent of its workforce and ended one of its three shifts.37 At the time, the plant employed 3,100 with up to 900 workers per shift.38 European sales of the 500L had fallen by 16 percent in the first quarter of 2016.39

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.4041

By late March 2018, Fiat Serbia had undergone four plant closures to adjust supply to demand — the last of the stoppages from 23 March to 3 April 2018 (as of April 2018).42

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.43

See also

Notes and references

Notes

References

References

  1. Serbian: ФИАТ Аутомобипи Србија, romanized: FIAT Automobili Srbija, lit. 'FIAT Automobiles Serbia'.[6] /wiki/Serbian_language ↩

  2. "FIAT 500L: 500 GOES LARGE". Fiat Press. 28 February 2013. http://www.fiatpress.co.uk/press/article/fiat-500l-500-goes-large-press-pack ↩

  3. "Factory "Fiat Cars" in Kragujevcu". The Elnos Group. http://elnosgroup.com/projects/fabrika-fiat-automobili-u-kragujevcu/?la=en ↩

  4. Žikica Milošević (23 February 2016). "Alessio Leonardi is the new CEO of "FCA Srbija"". Diplomacyandcommerce.rs. http://www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs/alessio-leonardi-is-the-new-ceo-of-fca-srbija/ ↩

  5. "Fiat Serbia strike ends, negotiations kick off". Euractiv. 20 July 2017. https://www.euractiv.com/section/economy-jobs/news/fiat-serbia-strike-ends-negotiations-kick-off/ ↩

  6. Radomir Ralev (25 May 2017). "FCA Srbija JV starts production of Fiat 500L in Kragujevac". Seenew.com. https://seenews.com/news/fca-srbija-jv-starts-production-of-fiat-500l-in-kragujevac-570018 ↩

  7. Radomir Ralev (25 May 2017). "FCA Srbija JV starts production of Fiat 500L in Kragujevac". Seenew.com. https://seenews.com/news/fca-srbija-jv-starts-production-of-fiat-500l-in-kragujevac-570018 ↩

  8. "Fiat Grande Panda: We know when production will start". 27 June 2024. https://www.italpassion.fr/en/fiat/fiat-grande-panda-we-know-when-production-will-start/ ↩

  9. "Balkan legacy Fiat goes east to lower costs". The Economist. 2 November 2013. https://www.economist.com/news/business/21588926-fiat-goes-east-lower-costs-balkan-legacy ↩

  10. "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. https://web.archive.org/web/20180225064737/http://www.press.fcaheritage.com/press/article/500-000th-fiat-500l-rolls-off-production-line ↩

  11. "Kragujevac: Workers "expected more"". B92 News. 31 January 2009. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20140106034320/http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=01&dd=31&nav_id=56818 ↩

  12. 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. http://blogs.worldbank.org/europeandcentralasia/forgotten-yugos-new-engines-growth-reviving-car-industry-south-east-europe ↩

  13. Stefano Giantin (18 August 2012). "The Fiat 500L made in Serbia lands in Europe (trans. from Italian)". Il Picollo. https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=it&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Filpiccolo.gelocal.it%2Ftrieste%2Fcronaca%2F2012%2F08%2F18%2Fnews%2Fla-500l-made-in-serbia-sbarca-in-europa-1.5555314&edit-text= ↩

  14. Serbian: ФИАТ Аутомобипи Србија, romanized: FIAT Automobili Srbija, lit. 'FIAT Automobiles Serbia'.[6] /wiki/Serbian_language ↩

  15. "Fiat Investing $1b into Zastava". Macedoniaonline.eu. 28 July 2008. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20120315134230/http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/2551/2/ ↩

  16. "Serbia: EUR 650 million loans for SMEs, Mid-caps and Fiat Auto Serbia". European Investment Bank. http://www.eib.org/infocentre/press/releases/all/2011/2011-061-eib-welcomes-serbian-delegation.htm ↩

  17. "Press corner". European Commission – European Commission. http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_BEI-11-61_en.htm ↩

  18. "The new model of Fiat is made in Serbia through the old system of state subsidies". Insajder Production. 26 May 2017. https://insajder.net/en/site/focus/4904/ ↩

  19. "The new model of Fiat is made in Serbia through the old system of state subsidies". Insajder Production. 26 May 2017. https://insajder.net/en/site/focus/4904/ ↩

  20. "Balkan legacy Fiat goes east to lower costs". The Economist. 2 November 2013. https://www.economist.com/news/business/21588926-fiat-goes-east-lower-costs-balkan-legacy ↩

  21. "Balkan legacy Fiat goes east to lower costs". The Economist. 2 November 2013. https://www.economist.com/news/business/21588926-fiat-goes-east-lower-costs-balkan-legacy ↩

  22. "Fiat ships 500L to North America". Automotive Logistics. 5 June 2013. https://automotivelogistics.media/news/fiat-ships-500l-to-north-america ↩

  23. Serbian: ФКА Србија, romanized: FCA Srbija, lit. 'FCA Serbia'.[6] /wiki/Serbian_language ↩

  24. "The new model of Fiat is made in Serbia through the old system of state subsidies". 26 May 2017. https://insajder.net/en/site/focus/4904/ ↩

  25. "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. https://web.archive.org/web/20201105124555/http://rs.n1info.com/Biznis/a454805/Zelezara-iz-Smedereva-najveci-izvoznik-u-Srbiji-slede-Fijat-i-NIS.html ↩

  26. Serbian: ФИАТ Србија, romanized: FIAT Srbija, lit. 'FIAT Serbia'. /wiki/Serbian_language ↩

  27. Giovanni De Filippis, Fiat Automobiles Serbia CEO (25 May 2010). "FIAT Automobiles Serbia". Fiat Group. https://www.arup.com/projects/fiat ↩

  28. "Refurbishing the Fiat Zastava Car Manufacturing Plant in Kragujevac". Arup Group. https://www.arup.com/projects/fiat ↩

  29. "Plasticwood.it in the green design project of the new Fiat plant of Kragujevac, Serbia". Plasticwood.it. 11 July 2012. http://www.archiproducts.com/en/news/plasticwood-it-in-the-green-design-project-of-the-new-fiat-plant-of-kragujevac-serbia_30211 ↩

  30. "Refurbishing the Fiat Zastava Car Manufacturing Plant in Kragujevac". Arup Group. https://www.arup.com/projects/fiat ↩

  31. "Sabiana goes to Serbia with the Fiat 500L". Sabiana.it. https://www.sabiana.it/en/references/sabiana-va-con-la-fiat-500l-in-serbia ↩

  32. "Balkan legacy Fiat goes east to lower costs". The Economist. 2 November 2013. https://www.economist.com/news/business/21588926-fiat-goes-east-lower-costs-balkan-legacy ↩

  33. Giovanni De Filippis, Fiat Automobiles Serbia CEO (25 May 2010). "FIAT Automobiles Serbia". Fiat Group. https://www.arup.com/projects/fiat ↩

  34. "Fiat Serbia". Piustudio.it. http://www.piustudio.it/en/portfolio/fca-group-comunication-center/ ↩

  35. "Johnson Controls Inaugurates New Seating Plant". 7 June 2011. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20230813165106/https://www.protext.cz/novy/press-release.php?id=16677 ↩

  36. "Kragujevac: Nine Factories Working For Fiat". In Serbia. 3 June 2013.[permanent dead link‍] https://inserbia.info/today/2013/06/kragujevac-nine-factories-working-for-fiat ↩

  37. Ivana Sekularac (15 June 2016). "Fiat Chrysler to lay off 30% of workforce at 500L plant in Serbia". Automobile News. http://www.autonews.com/article/20160615/COPY01/306159919/fiat-chrysler-to-lay-off-30-percent-of-workforce-at-500l-plant-in ↩

  38. Ivana Sekularac (15 June 2016). "Fiat Chrysler to lay off 30% of workforce at 500L plant in Serbia". Automobile News. http://www.autonews.com/article/20160615/COPY01/306159919/fiat-chrysler-to-lay-off-30-percent-of-workforce-at-500l-plant-in ↩

  39. Ivana Sekularac (15 June 2016). "Fiat Chrysler to lay off 30% of workforce at 500L plant in Serbia". Automobile News. http://www.autonews.com/article/20160615/COPY01/306159919/fiat-chrysler-to-lay-off-30-percent-of-workforce-at-500l-plant-in ↩

  40. "Two thousand Serbian FIAT workers take strike action". Industriall-union.org. 7 June 2017. http://www.industriall-union.org/two-thousand-serbian-fiat-workers-take-strike-action ↩

  41. "Serbia premier: Workers at Fiat plant in agree to end the strike". National Post. 18 July 2017. https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/serbia-premier-workers-at-fiat-plant-in-agree-to-end-strike ↩

  42. "Production at Fiat Kragujevac halted until April 3". Ekapija.com. 26 March 2018. https://www.ekapija.com/en/news/2071631/production-at-fiat-kragujevac-halted-until-april-3 ↩

  43. "Vučićeva "svetla budućnost Fijata": Otkazi i gašenje fabrike". Danas. 14 May 2022. https://www.danas.rs/vesti/ekonomija/vuciceva-svetla-buducnost-fijata-otkazi-i-gasenje-fabrike/ ↩