Fiat S.p.A. is an Italian automobile manufacturer based in Turin. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors, including Giovanni Agnelli. During its more than century-long history, Fiat has also manufactured railway engines and carriages, military vehicles, farm tractors, and aircraft. In 2011, Fiat was the fourth largest European automaker by production behind Volkswagen Group, PSA, and Renault and the eleventh largest automaker by production in the world. Fiat has acquired numerous other companies; e.g., it acquired Lancia in 1968, became a shareholder of Ferrari in 1969, took control of Alfa Romeo from the Italian government in 1986, purchased Maserati in 1993, and became the majority shareholder of Chrysler in 2011. Fiat-based cars are built around the world. Outside Italy, the largest country of production is Brazil, where the Fiat brand is the market leader. The group also has factories in Argentina and Poland and a long history of licensing production of its products in other countries. It also has numerous alliances and joint ventures around the world, the main ones being located in Italy, France, Turkey, Serbia, India and China. Agnelli's grandson Gianni Agnelli was Fiat's chairman from 1966 until 1996; he then served as honorary chairman from 1996 until his death on 24 January 2003, during which time Cesare Romiti served as chairman. Until their removal, Paolo Fresco served as chairman and Paolo Cantarella as CEO. Umberto Agnelli then took over as chairman from 2003 to 2004. After Umberto Agnelli's death on 28 May 2004, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo was named chairman, with Agnelli heir John Elkann becoming vice chairman, and other family members also serving on the board. At this point, CEO Giuseppe Morchio resigned, and Sergio Marchionne was named to replace him on 1 June 2004. Wikipedia [ - ]

Fiat S.p.A. is an Italian automobile manufacturer based in Turin. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a... [ + ]