Fiat's Strategic Alliance with Tata (A)

This case looks at the automotive industry and Fiat's and Tata's corporate backgrounds. It provides an in-depth description of how these two companies came together, including the entire preoperational negotiation process. The case focuses on October 2007, immediately after the companies had finalized a joint venture to manufacture passenger cars, engines and transmissions in India for the national and international markets. The alliance also made additional agreements to manufacture pickup trucks jointly in Fiat's Argentinean facility and had a distribution arrangement between Fiat's commercial vehicle subsidiary Iveco and Tata's commercial division.
Students will be exposed to the key issues involved in negotiating alliances, such as timing, readiness, management opinions, cultural learning, due diligence and ownership structure.