Car sales across Europe fell for the fifth straight month in May, led by grim results from Fiat, Mercedes, Jaguar, and Saab.
The Fiat Group plunged 25.5pc as Italy's worst economic crisis since the Second World War scared consumers away from showrooms, while a strike by lorry-drivers delayed car deliveries.
Carlo de Benedetti, the ex-head of Olivetti and a former top Fiat executive, said yesterday nothing could save the cost-laden company from a calamitous downwards spiral.
"I am sorry to say that Fiat no longer has any hope. It is in trouble because it has been protected, and those who have been over-protected always succumb to the first infection that comes along," he said, adding that Italy's economic crisis was far worse than generally understood.
The good news is with the African debt relief package going through, Mercedes and BMW sales should pick up and this could be the final nail in the coffin of the Euro
In 1865, France, Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland (joined in 1868 by Greece) agreed to form the Latin Monetary Union which had Italy as the weakest member
Deja Vu all over again methinks
The Fiat Group plunged 25.5pc as Italy's worst economic crisis since the Second World War scared consumers away from showrooms, while a strike by lorry-drivers delayed car deliveries.
Carlo de Benedetti, the ex-head of Olivetti and a former top Fiat executive, said yesterday nothing could save the cost-laden company from a calamitous downwards spiral.
"I am sorry to say that Fiat no longer has any hope. It is in trouble because it has been protected, and those who have been over-protected always succumb to the first infection that comes along," he said, adding that Italy's economic crisis was far worse than generally understood.
The good news is with the African debt relief package going through, Mercedes and BMW sales should pick up and this could be the final nail in the coffin of the Euro
In 1865, France, Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland (joined in 1868 by Greece) agreed to form the Latin Monetary Union which had Italy as the weakest member
Deja Vu all over again methinks
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