Interview Date: January 4, 2013

Professional Profile: Paolo Gagliardo, after an MBA at Columbia Business School in New York, has built great part of its career in the Automotive industry. He has worked in Ford Motor Company and FIAT in various Marketing, Sales and Product assignments in the UK, US and Italy. He has also worked in the Italian Railroad Company, as Chief Marketing Officer and Piaggio S.p.A. as Executive Vice President Product.
In 2010 he has rejoined Fiat Group Automobiles as COO for International Operations and now he is Head of Brand Lancia/Chrysler for EMEA.

The products in the Lancia range – the Thema and Flavia in particular – seem to be carbon copies of non-European models; to this, add the decision to abandon the Lancia brand. Today, can a Lancia salesperson be successful in proposing this type of product, taking on the European competition? Read more »

donna al volante.. © zibibboo

This year in Italy – in the middle of the worst car market since the 70′s – nearly 600,000 new cars will be personally purchased by Women; and Women will also influence the decision to purchase an additional 250,000 cars, used by Italian families.

Every day on the streets of the “Bel Paese”, millions of women are driving and dealing with the maintenance of their 13,400,000 cars, generating every year – only in the aftersales – more than 6 billion Euro of revenues (7.642.000.000 US$) Read more »

Emotion © Joe Shlabotnik

I belong to a relatively new generation, too much committed to principles and values typical of the previous generation and I consider myself quite prone to decode the behavior of the next generation. Read more »

The car market trend is positive in the World: in 2012 the enrollment grew by 5.7%.

Not in Italy, where dealers falls in the middle ages and develop the numbers of 1979, when there were the Fiat 127, the Alfetta and the VW Golf’s first series, inflation was 24% and “Car and Driver” was at 1,25 US $! Read more »

For the last few days I have been hearing the ad on the italian radio for the new Alfa Romeo Giulietta and the part about maintaining its value in the used car market according to Eurotax and Quattroruote (the most important italian automotive newspaper) really caught my attention. Read more »

IMGP1016 © by marko8904

During the approval phase for cars, automobile companies are required to comply with the regulations in the NEDC (New European Driving Cycle) established by directive EU 91/441/EC.

This regulation calls for a series of tests that must be uniform and repeatable. To guarantee that they can be repeated, the tests are performed not on roads or a track but on dynamometric rollers in a laboratory at a controlled and constant temperature and humidity, therefore examining only a reduced and insignificant range of use. Read more »

officina della bistecca © by thepinkpeppercorn

Very often, auto parts wholesalers buy from the manufacturers (even from notable brands) at discounts that in some cases, due to bonuses and incentives, reach 70/80%.
In the supply chain there are two other steps, the parts dealer and the mechanic, before reaching the final customer. The three steps are required since the vast majority of service centers are small establishments that cannot keep large amounts of items on stock.

Read more »

diagnosis: snowed in © by erix!

I am inspired by my own personal experience and by the previous article by Matteo Ceronetti regarding the professionalism and ability of the dealer service network.
I own an Audi A6. I have had other Audis in the past as well as a Mercedes, and, unfortunately, I have often found myself noting that the dealer service centers are not up to the standards of their brand image. Read more »

Car_tuning © by campdarby

I have been working in the automotive sector since 1993, first in the competition vehicle sector for important international companies both on the racetrack as well as at the operators’ premises, and then in the world of “tuning”. Tuning is a word that is often abused and linked to clandestine races instead of automobile customization. Read more »

Santa promotes natural gas © by Dvortygirl

In this period of expensive fuel, I suggest again the question of convenience or not to switch to gas. Whether it’s
natural gas or LPG, the car is registered as an original bi-fuel or it is transformed , the advantages are many: savings on supplies, reduced emissions and always the ability to drive. What I am going to do is a list of the main concerns, of even greater concern, which can be in
dealing with such a choice. Read more »