Fiat-Chrysler merger in a year – The spotlight of the foreign press once again shown on the Fiat group, on the occasion of the car manufacturer’s annual stockholders’ meeting. American papers were particularly interested in the strategies of the Turin-based company and,on April 9, reported on the merger with Chrysler which, according to Sergio Marchionne, might take place by mid-2014. (Washington Post – Fiat-Chrysler CEO says merger with Chrysler merger could be complete by mid-2014). There were also opinion pieces on how Fiat will finance the deal, through the sale of non-strategic assets (Wall Street Journal – Fiat Considers Asset Sale *) or by generating cash cassa (Bloomberg Businessweek – Marchionne Says Fiat Has Cash to Purchase Chrysler). But Fiat has interests worldwide and not only the United States. The Brazilian Valor Economico, the local branch of Iveco is working to supply the Argentinean army with new armored tanks (12 aprile – Iveco trará novos blindados para MG *)
Liquidity for businesseses without increasing debt – Another piece of news from Italy that has attracted the interest of the foreign press is the plan to repay the 40 billion euros that the public adminstration owes businesses. German papers wrote about the government announcement on April 6 (Handelsblatt – Italien will Milliardenschulden bei Firmen begleichen; Die Welt – Italiens Firmen haben eine Rechnung mit Rom offen; Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung – Italien will Unternehmen schnell 40 Milliarden Euro zurückzahlen). They were also interested in the fact that the funds will not increase the public debt, as were papers in Spain, where a similar measure was adopted (Expansion – Monti lanza un plan de proveedores para Italia de 40.000 millones; El Pais – Monti aprueba un plan de proveedores de 40.000 millones; La Vanguardia – Monti aprueba un plan de pago a proveedores para Italia de 40.000 millones). The news was also discussed in the French press, which spoke of an operation agreed on by all of Italy’s political forces (La Tribune – L’etat italien rembourse 40 milliards d’euros de dettes à ses fournisseurs!; Le Figaro – L’italie reboursera 40 milliards aux entreprises), and in English language papers of emerging countries such as The Economic Times (Italy to pay 40 bln euros owed to business) e Gulf News (Italy to speed up private sector debt repayment).
Art and luxury goods – And, as always, there was no lack of attention for Italian fashion: El Pais spoke of the future of Giorgio Armani, who has no intention of withdrawing from the runway (April 5 – Armani: “No pienso retirarme” ) and Valor Economico, which reported on the success of Bottega Veneta (9 aprile – Para Bottega Veneta, o luxo compensa *). Finally, turning to art, El Mundo took a tour of the unknown corners of the cathedral of Siena 7 aprile – Un paseo por el cielo).
* marked articles viewable online upon payment or registration