“Mondo Agnelli” is a history of Italian automaker Fiat and the powerful, glamorous family behind it. The first half of the book traces Fiat’s rise from an idea Agnelli had in a coffee shop in the late 19th century to an industrial colossus that was once worth 5 percent of Italy’s gross domestic product. It also explores problems within the Agnelli family — inattentive parents, a string of deaths at an early age, disputes over wills. This half of the book is slow going and reads like a soap opera. Lifestyles of the rich and famous indeed.
By 2003, Fiat was ailing. The quality of its vehicles was poor, profits had withered, it had too many product lines, it had grown fat around the midriff. A joint venture with General Motors collapsed. An internal coup almost removed the Agnellis from power.
Desperate to turn around the firm, the Agnellis reached outside the family and tapped managerial maestro Sergio Marchionne as chief executive. Though not a car man, Marchionne was a firm, capable manager with an eye for building a strong team; he re-engineered the company. The turnaround was so strong that the U.S. government backed a partnership between Fiat and Chrysler when the Detroit automaker faced insolvency in 2009.
NONFICTION: AUTOMOTIVE EMPIRE
Mondo Agnelli: Fiat, Chrysler, and the Power of a Dynasty
by Jennifer Clark (Wiley)
